


Marvelous

by Gage39



Category: Justice League - All Media Types, Shazam (Comics), Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Animal Transformation, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Homelessness, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Magic-Users, Panic Attacks, Past Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-03
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-05-01 15:42:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 22,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14523864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gage39/pseuds/Gage39
Summary: When the Young Justice team decides that they need a magic user Batman manages to convince Captain Marvel to let Billy Batson join the team on a trial basis.  While the team struggles to understand the relationship between the two Billy struggles with both himself and his past as he tries to decide whether he wants to stay with the team or not.





	1. Chapter 1

“We so need a magic user,” Artemis groaned as she rubbed her shoulder. It still hurt from where Klarion had blasted her into a tree.

“Agreed,” Kaldur nodded. He had first degree burns on his hands that Robin was currently tending to.

“I don’t like magic,” Conner scowled. It was one Superman’s (and his) only weaknesses, the other being kryptonite.

“What about Zatanna?” Kid Flash asked suddenly.

“Who is that?” Miss Martian looked up from the chair she had collapsed in.

“She’s the daughter of Zatara,” Batman answered. “But her father has made it very clear that he doesn’t want her involved in the superhero business for quite some time. However,” he hesitated then continued speaking. “I will have to speak to Captain Marvel first but I may know of another magic user close to your age group.”

“Really?” Robin looked at his mentor in confusion. “I didn’t even know he had a sidekick.”

Batman hesitated again. “Captain Marvel doesn’t really have a sidekick. It’s…complicated.”

Kid Flash rolled his eyes. “We’re superheroes; when is it not complicated?” everyone had to agree.

\------------

“I’m sorry; you want what?” Captain Marvel was definitely confused.

"I want Billy to join the Young Justice team," Batman didn't waver.

“Are you kicking me out of the Justice League?” Captain Marvel couldn’t help but feel hurt. He had spent a lot of time trying to prove himself to the older members, a task that wasn’t always easy when they couldn’t decide what to make of him. They alternated between asking him to stop a rampaging Superman or explaining how to use the communicator slowly because they thought he didn’t understand how the call button worked.

“Not at all,” Batman hastened to reassure him.

“Are you sure? Cuz it sounds an awful lot like that,” Captain Marvel crossed his arms and scowled. He should have known Batman was up to something when the standoffish hero showed up in Fawcett city, near the remains of Captain Marvel’s home. “Wait a second,” his eyes narrowed when something occurred to him. “Does this have anything to do with my place getting demolished last week?”

Batman at least had the good grace to look slightly sheepish as he said, “I would be lying if I said that wasn’t a factor. However, the Young Justice team does need a magic-user and Billy is relatively close to their age. Whether you’re willing to admit it or not it certainly wouldn’t do you any harm to have a more stable home life.”

“You sure about that?” Captain Marvel asked sarcastically.

Batman winced then continued speaking. “They won’t hurt you; you know that, right?”

Captain Marvel rolled his eyes. “I know, I know. It’s just,” he hesitated and Batman remained silent, waiting for him to collect his thoughts. “My head knows but the rest of me not so much. It’s very difficult to break ingrained habits, plus I worked hard to earn my place in the Justice League: I don’t really want to give that up.”

“Young Justice doesn’t have tri-weekly meetings to discuss the world’s situations,” Batman reminded him. “Plus you’ll get to eat M'gann's cooking every day.”

Captain Marvel blinked. “On the other hands it couldn’t hurt to give it a shot.”

“I thought you’d see it that way,” Batman smirked. “But seriously, Billy, just try it for a week or two and see how things work out. If they don’t then I promise not to bring the subject up again.”

“Fine,” Captain Marvel sighed reluctantly. “When do you want Billy up there?”

\---------------

“I spoke to Captain Marvel; a magic user about your age will be arriving tomorrow morning,” Batman informed them.

“That was fast,” Kid Flash blinked. “Even for me.”

“Under the circumstances haste seemed to be for the best,” Batman explained. “Billy will be staying for two weeks to determine if this is a good fit or not. Captain Marvel will be unavailable during that time so Black Canary will be taking over as den mother until further notice.”

Robin raised an eyebrow. “So Captain Marvel’s not going to be here while his sidekick is?”

Batman let out a heavy sigh. “Captain Marvel’s absence is unrelated to Billy’s stay. Sort of,” he amended. “If he feels like it Billy can answer all of your questions in the morning. Before he arrives there are a couple of things I would like to discuss with you.”

“Like what?” M’gann did her best to look serious as Conner started complaining (via their telepathic link) that Captain Marvel probably hated his sidekick the same way that Superman hated him.

Batman hesitated then began explaining. “Billy startles easily so unless you want to get turned into something or sent to another dimension try not to scare him.”

“You honestly expect us to believe that?” Kid Flash scoffed as he crossed his arms.

“The first time I met Billy he turned me into a bat,” the flat tone of Batman’s voice making it clear that he wasn’t joking.

“Then we shall follow your advice to the best of our abilities,” Kaldur promised.

“He’s not overly fond of physical contact but that would also fall under startling him,” Batman warned.

“Anything else?” Artemis wasn’t a genius or even good with people but she could connect the dots enough to know that they were going to be dealing with an abused kid which was always fun. She had no doubt whatsoever that Captain Marvel was not the one responsible but had probably taken the kid on as a sidekick just as an excuse to get the kid out of a bad situation.

“Nightmares but that’s usual for everyone,” Batman frowned at his pager. “I’ve got to go now but if you don’t mind make sure one of the guest rooms is clean and ready for him.”

“As you wish,” Kaldur nodded.

Batman turned and left, the zeta-tube announcing his departure.

“Well this should be fun,” Robin broke the silence.

“Did you get anything from that?” Kid Flash asked, fully aware that all superhero clans (his included) had their own secret tells in everything they did and said.

Robin paused, gathering his thoughts before speaking. “Billy’s obviously been abused at some point in his life but I don’t think it’s a current problem. I’ve read some of Batman’s notes and he thinks that Captain Marvel is homeless which is probably why he said it was ‘a matter of haste’. Captain Marvel’s probably going to be using the two weeks that Billy’s here to see about actually getting a place for both of them.”

“What do you mean he’s homeless?” Conner was still confused but was now beginning to understand that Captain Marvel didn’t actually hate his sidekick which was a relief because he genuinely liked the man. Captain Marvel was always nice to him and had been the only one to actually come out and tell Conner that Superman was most likely not going to come around.

Robin looked slightly uncomfortable but answered anyway. “Basically it means that he doesn’t have anywhere to live-he probably sleeps in abandoned buildings and alleyways.”

“That’s terrible,” M'gann gasped, looking horrified. “He always seems so happy.”

“Like I said, it’s just a theory. It might not even be true.”

Kid Flash shot Robin a look. “It’s Batman’s theory which obviously means that it’s true.”

“I must agree with Kid Flash,” Kaldur spoke up. “I have never known Batman to be wrong about anything.”

Artemis rolled her eyes as she stood up. “We could talk about this all night or we could go ahead and get the kid’s room ready. I’m tired and would like to go to bed at some point tonight.”

“Good point,” Kid Flash yawned.

“We should all try and get some rest,” Kaldur said reasonably. “Tomorrow will be a very long day.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team finally meets Billy, learning some surprising things about Captain Marvel as well.

“I changed my mind; I don’t want to do this,” Billy was starting to feel sick to his stomach.

Batman sighed and looked down at the nervous child. “We talked about this, Billy. I know you’re scared but I promise you don’t have to be.”

“But what if they don’t like me?”

Batman reminded himself that Billy was just a scared kid and that he didn’t really want to frighten him off for good. He knelt, looking Billy right in the eyes. “They’re going to love you; trust me.”

Billy still wasn’t convinced but he did trust Batman so he nodded, albeit reluctantly. Batman smiled at him as they entered the zeta-tube. It did nothing to calm his nerves though and so he clutched Mr. Tawky Tawny even tighter as they were instantly teleported to Mount Justice.

The members of Young Justice were gathered in the living room bright and early the next morning. They hadn’t stayed up very late the night before as the guest room had only needed dusted and aired out. M’gann had gotten up early to make breakfast, just in case their new (temporary) team member was hungry. She had fitted the bed with new Superman sheets Batman had dropped off that morning along with a bag containing some of Robin’s old clothes that she had been instructed to unpack and place in the dresser. She was also not allowed to take them back if Billy refused them. Batman had briefly mentioned that both Billy and Captain Marvel had proud, stubborn streaks that had served them well until now before leaving to get Billy.

“Arriving, Batman; arriving, Billy Batson,” the computer cheerfully announced as they sprang to their feet.

After the arrivals had exited the zeta-tube the team froze once they caught sight of the scrawny little boy hugging a stuffed tiger to his chest. He looked like the poster child for poverty and neglect from his baggy, dirty clothes to the fresh shiner and bruises on the left side of his face.

“Billy, this is the Young Justice team that Captain Marvel and I have been telling you about,” Batman went around the room, introducing each member, paying special attention to Conner and M’gann as they were the only ones that lived in the Cave full time.

“Hi,” Billy waved shyly, still not looking at ease.

M’gann was the first to recover although she resisted the urge to hug Billy, remembering Batman’s warnings the day before. “It’s so nice to meet you, Billy. We’ve been looking forward to meeting you.”

Billy looked surprised for a moment then, “me too. Cap and Batman are always talking about you guys.”

Batman’s pager went off and he sighed after checking it. “I have to go. If you need anything let me know,” he looked pointedly at Billy who nodded.

They stood in awkward silence for a moment after Batman’s departure then Kaldur spoke. “Would you like us to show you to your room so that you can unpack and get settled in?”

“He doesn’t even have any luggage,” Kid Flash protested.

“I store it in a pocket dimension,” Billy spoke up, flushing when they all looked at him. “It’s less likely to get stolen that way.”

“Good thinking,” Artemis agreed. She knew all too well the dangers of leaving belongings unattended. She had had to look out for her sister more often than not though.

“Your room’s this way,” Robin took charge. “And after that we can eat,” he added as Billy’s stomach growled.

“Sorry but I didn’t really have time to eat before Batman came to get me.” Billy was a skillful liar, they had to admit.

“I’m hungry too,” Conner sighed.

“Here we are,” M’gann’s voice was cheerful as she pushed the door open.

“Wow,” Billy’s eyes widened at the sight of his new room. “I actually get my own room?”

“Of course,” Kid Flash was surprised by the question. “Have you never had a room to yourself?” it wasn’t until after the voice the question that he realized it could be considered rude.

Billy didn’t seem bothered by it though and shook his head vigorously. “Nope. Usually I have to share a room with the other kids but sometimes I stay in the garage or somewhere else.”

None of them were really sure what to say after that so they just watched as Billy made some hand movements while muttering something that was most definitely not English. A small blue portal appeared, startling the other kids even as Billy reached inside and pulled out a faded Superman backpack with duct tape covering what were most likely several holes.

“That was officially mind-blowing,” Robin said weakly as the portal closed.

“If it’s okay with you guys I’d rather unpack after we eat.”

“Not a problem,” Kid Flash assured him.

“The kitchen’s this way,” M’gann smiled.

Billy listened attentively as they pointed out the other rooms on the way. He knew the layout pretty well no doubt from listening to Captain Marvel’s stories and didn’t seem at all surprised by either the Sphere or Wolf which wasn’t unusual but the lack of fear was. Well that and the way Wolf whined once he got a whiff of Billy, slinking backwards.

“It’s okay,” Billy crouched, holding out his stuffed tiger. “Mr. Tawky Tawny’s not going to hurt you. Well, as long as you don’t hurt me that is.”  
Wolf cautiously sniffed the tiger, licked it and then walked away.

“That was weird,” Conner commented.

The others nodded in agreement but decided not to pursue the subject as Billy’s stomach started growling again.

“And here’s the kitchen,” Kid Flash announced. “It’s my favorite room,” he told Billy in a stage whisper.

“Wow, really? We couldn’t tell,” Artemis pushed past them so she could get the plates out of the cabinet.

“Your sarcasm is not appreciated,” Kid Flash snapped.

Kaldur let out a longsuffering sigh as he turned to Billy. “I apologize for my teammates’ behavior. We do not wish for you to get the wrong impression of us.”

“He’s like seven so I doubt he cares how childish the two of them act,” Robin snorted, ignoring their indignant cries.

“I’m nine-and-a-half,” Billy interjected. “I’ve actually been training since I was seven though,” he admitted.

“So why did Captain Marvel decide to start training you so young?” Conner was genuinely curious having heard the other kids complain about not being allowed to do anything because they were too young.

Billy looked sheepish. “He didn’t have much of a choice,” he explained. “When the wizard gave Cap his powers I kind of got struck by the magic lightning too he had to teach me how to control it so I didn’t accidentally destroy something.”

“Here you go,” M’gann smiled as she handed Billy a plate stacked with warm blueberry muffins.

Billy’s eyes widened. “Wow, thanks,” he set to work on devouring the food.

“So what do your parents think about this?” Kid Flash around a mouthful of muffins.

Billy shrugged. “Considering they left me in a dumpster three hours after I was born they don’t actually get an opinion. At least I’m assuming they were the ones that dumped me.”

“I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to say to that,” Conner blinked.

“I don’t think there’s anything to say,” Robin informed him.

“That’s terrible,” M’gann gasped. “Who would do something like that?”

Artemis looked uncomfortable as she said, “It’s a lot more common than you would think.”

“Thousands of children are abandoned by their parents or guardians every day,” Kaldur explained.

“You sound like an infomercial,” Billy licked his fingers clean, ignoring the looks of disgust sent his way. “The muffins were awesome by the way.”

“I’m glad you liked them,” M’gann smiled.

“So what all can you do?” Conner took Billy’s plate and placed it in the sink along with his. None of the older heroes seemed thrilled about magic or magic users. Conner could understand their reservation on a certain level but still, it just looked cool.

Billy brightened. “A lot of different things actually. I can’t do a lot of big spells but most of those require blood offerings and stuff like that so they’re strictly last resorts; Cap made that very clear. I can do some low-level summoning which is mostly just magical artifacts like the Ritual Dagger of Hosiah Newton. I haven’t really been able to summon beasts yet but I’m going to keep at it until I can. I recently learned a teleportation spell but I can only do one person and it uses a lot of magic. There’s some fairly easy defensive and offensive spells that Cap taught me that I can use in the field. Currently I’m trying to learn an illusion spell so I can trick the enemy.”

“That’s…a lot,” Kid Flash looked impressed.

“So why doesn’t Captain Marvel use any spells?” Artemis munched on an apple as she closed the refrigerator door.

“So everyone will underestimate him,’ Billy explained. “If everyone knew he could do more than just punch stuff they’d probably start trying to use magic and Dr. Sivana is scary enough with his science stuff that he doesn’t need the extra firepower. Plus any magical artifact strong enough to take down Cap not only requires human sacrifice but could easily wipe out an entire city. Besides, brute force usually works. What?” he asked in confusion when he realized that everyone was staring at him.

“The Captain is far more devious than I had given him credit for,” Kaldur had a respectful tone in his voice. While he had always respected Captain Marvel (he respected everyone in the justice league although it was…challenging with Plastic Man) he could feel his respect for the man growing. It would probably be easier (and quicker) to use magic to take down his foes but he chose not to in order to protect innocent civilians.

“Does anybody in the Justice League besides Batman know what he’s capable of?” Kid Flash asked, polishing off the last two apples in the refrigerator.

Billy considers then shook his head. “Not that I know of. They usually get Zatara to handle the magical stuff. I have no physical prowess whatsoever so I use my magic but I do try and stay away from the big stuff.”

“So Captain Marvel, is he like your uncle or something?” Robin changed the subject.

“Something,” Billy admitted. “He’s the closest thing I’ve got to family besides Mr. Tawky Tawny.”

“Aren’t you a little old to be carrying that around with you all the time?” there were times when Conner wished that the genomes had focused more on his social skills than geometry. This was definitely one of those times.

“Conner, that was very rude,” M'gann scolded.

“He’s my animal avatar,” Billy looked slightly amused. “He got struck by lightning too. He’s got a more powerful form but this one is less conspicuous plus I don’t have enough magic to keep him like that for long.”

“Dude, did everything you own get zapped by magic lightning?” Kid Flash demanded.

“Not everything,” Billy defended. “Just Cap, Mr. Tawky Tawny and me; after that Cap decided that he was technically responsible for us or something like that.”

“That was good of him,” Artemis nodded, wishing that she had Captain Marvel around instead of her parents.

Billy shrugged. “It’s a superhero thing,” he sighed. “For most superheroes that is,” he added, casting an apologetic look at Conner.

“It’s no big deal.” While Conner did wish that Superman would have something to do with him he was slowly getting used to the idea of Superman not being in his life. It certainly didn’t hurt any less but the anger was slowly dying down which was a good thing according to Black Canary and Batman.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billy gets settled in his room then gets to start homeschooling with Conner, courtesy of Black Canary.

It was a little after eight before Billy finally got around to unpacking his meager belongings. There wasn’t much: two red sweaters, a pair of blue jeans that was literally on the verge of falling apart, a pair of white tennis shoes that were a size too big, three children’s books that he had fished out of a dumpster and a red sleeping bag he had bought from a local thrift store. He had been $2 short but the cashier, Miss Darla, had been kind enough to make up the difference. He had paid her back of course, albeit in loose change.  
The clothes went into the dresser, next to what he assumed were Robin’s old clothes. He would have given them back but he had a sneaking suspicion that they wouldn’t be accepted. He sighed and moved on, placing the books on the nightstand. The shoes and sleeping bag were placed back in the backpack which was then stored in the closet. Billy looked around the room and nodded in satisfaction. After putting on the Batman pajamas he had found he and Mr. Tawky Tawny curled up in the bed, inwardly smiling over the Superman sheets. Just because he was being mean to Superboy didn’t mean he had to stop liking the Kryptonian.

After an hour of tossing and turning Billy was forced to admit defeat; the bed was too soft. Billy had never actually slept on a bed before. Usually it was on a cot or pullout couch-his brief stay at the orphanage had been when it was over packed (as usual) and he had spent the night curled up in a corner with three other boys. He left the next morning and had never gone back.

Billy groaned and reluctantly got out of bed. He pulled the comforter and a pillow off then set about making a makeshift pallet on the floor. Once he was done he smiled with pride then made himself and Mr. Tawky Tawny comfortable. It was still infinitely more comfortable than his sleeping bag but not out of this world and soon he was sound asleep.

\-----------------------------------------

“He’s finally asleep,” M’gann reported as she settled on the couch next to Conner, snuggling into his warmth.

“That’s good,” Conner threaded his fingers through his girlfriend’s red hair.

“Very,” M’gann agreed. “He’s a little bit less nervous now than when he got here. I still can’t believe no one knew that Captain Marvel was homeless,” M’gann’s voice was quiet. “I mean, you wouldn’t think it, not with how cheerful he always is and he certainly doesn’t look it.”

“Billy said his magic provides the costume and allows him to survive without food or water,” Conner reminded her.

“True,” she sighed. “And then there’s Billy; none of us knew he even existed, including Robin. I’ll bet nobody in the Justice League knows either, except for Batman,” she added hastily.  
“I guess he’s a lot better at hiding secrets than anyone’s ever given him credit for,” Conner shrugged.

“Fair enough.”

The two fell into a comfortable silence and stayed up for quite some time, simply enjoying each other’s company.

\------------------------------------

The next morning was Monday which meant school. Billy and Conner stayed seated at the kitchen table, watching in amusement as their teammates ran around in a last minute effort to get ready.

Wally was hopping around on one foot trying to find his missing shoe while eating a breakfast burrito. Artemis had lost her homework and was throwing things right and left in an attempt to find it. M’gann flitted about, trying to help her teammates locate their missing items while Robin feverishly worked on the English assignment he had forgotten about.

“Don’t you have to get ready for school too?” Conner asked.

“Nope,” Billy shook his head. “The only schooling I’ve had was kindergarten and I ran away halfway through the year so I never went back,” he explained.

“Captain Marvel didn’t make you go?” Kaldur asked in surprise, having overheard some of the conversation as he was packing his lunch.

Billy laughed nervously. “He would have but I’d have to have a legal guardian and, since he doesn’t technically exist he can’t be one. Well, he exists he just doesn’t have any legal papers but Batman’s seeing about getting him some.” It wasn’t technically a lie, he told himself. Batman had promised to get everything Captain Marvel needed to become a law abiding citizen with a job. That is if the Young Justice thing didn’t work out. Although, if Billy was being honest with himself, he hoped it would work out. He liked living at the Cave and having a real bed to sleep in and food whenever he was hungry.

Of course not being alone all of the time was awesome as well. Billy had always been a social, tactile child and growing up in the foster care system (where neither of those traits could be satisfied) had made him starved for both touch and human interaction. Sadly, he now feared those things as they usually meant pain and suffering. But…he didn’t have to fear the team-the Wisdom of Solomon, Batman and his own limited experience with them had taught him that much. That didn’t mean that he wasn’t afraid though-it just meant he was ashamed when the fear raised its ugly head.

“Found it!” Wally cried triumphantly as he held up a yellow sneaker before hastily pulling it on. “Yikes,” his eyes widened after looking at his watch. “I’m late!”

“And so are we,” Artemis grabbed her backpack. “And there’s my homework,” she sighed.

“Done!” Robin shoved his completed assignment into his bag.

“I’ve got all my things,” M'gann said brightly as she shifted into her human disguise.

“I will see you shortly,” Kaldur bowed to Billy and Conner before exiting via the zeta tube, the others behind him.

“So what do you usually do when it’s just you?” Billy asked.

Conner shrugged. “Black Canary gives me schoolwork sometimes and training. That’s pretty much it. What about you?”

“Try to avoid bullies and social services while scrounging for food,” Billy said promptly. “Every so often I can get an odd job and they’ll give me stuff in exchange.” The tennis shoes and shirt he was wearing had been payment from an elderly woman who commented that he was the same size as her grandson and gave him some clothes he had just outgrown. The shoes were a little big but he stuffed newspapers in the toes so they wouldn’t come off. The stuff in his room was a little big as well but Billy wasn’t going to complain. He hated pity and charity but he knew Batman well enough to know that that wasn’t why the older hero did things for him. Truth be told it was…nice to have someone worry about him. It was a first for him so it was a constant struggle to simply accept the help and not break down in tears in front of Batman. If he did he knew Batman wouldn’t have given him a choice in the matter and swept him off to Wayne Manor that very second.

“What about Captain Marvel?” Conner was frowning.

“He gets odd jobs when he can but its challenging for him to find a job that pays cash, doesn’t require an ID and isn’t involved in anything illegal,” Billy explained.  
“Ah,” Conner nodded in understanding. He had received enough lectures on civilian identities and social interactions to know that it would be considered suspicious if an adult just went around asking random people for a job but it wasn’t when kids did it.

“There was this one time when he was helping unload ships down at the docks and the police raided the place. Turns out it they were smuggling cocaine. He just barely got away,” Billy sniggered.

“No way,” Conner gasped in between laughs. He had a mental image of Captain Marvel crouching in an alleyway as police surrounded him.

“Oh yeah,” Billy nodded. “After that he decided not to do that again.”

“Can’t say I blame him,” Conner sighed as he opened the schoolwork Black Canary had given him last week. There were still some math problems he didn’t understand but she would explain them when she arrived like she always did.

Billy sat on the floor; Mr. Tawky Tawny on his lap then crossed his legs and assumed a meditation stance Conner had seen Robin use a few times. “Meditation allows me to access my magic more easily,” Billy said, no doubt feeling Conner’s gaze on him.

They remained like that for some time the silence broken only by the occasional grumbles from Conner and rustling fabric as Billy shifted to a more comfortable position. This was how Black Canary found them when she arrived two hours later.

“Hello, Conner,” she greeted him then turned to Billy. “You must be Billy,” she smiled, crouching so that she was at eye level with him. “It’s nice to meet you,” she held out a hand which Billy hesitantly accepted.

“It’s good to meet you too, Ms. Canary,” Billy said politely. “Cap says you’re really nice.”

“Well I think he’s nice too,” Black Canary winked as she stood up. “After I check Conner’s schoolwork Batman asked me to see about figuring out where you are and how to get you where you need to be. Is that okay with you?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

It didn’t take very long for Black Canary to check Conner’s schoolwork and give him more. He had improved a lot-there were only a few problems left blank now and the number dropped every day.

Afterwards she and Billy sat down at the table across from him. She placed a couple pieces of paper in front of Billy along with a pencil. “These are placement tests,” she explained. “There’s one for each grade-all the way up to fifth grade. If you don’t know something don’t be afraid to guess or skip it altogether. Okay?”

“Okay,” Billy nodded then picked up the pencil and began working.

Once Billy was finished he handed the tests back to Black Canary who quickly went over them. “Okay,” she looked at Billy. “Based on these you would probably be placed in the second grade. Since the school year’s almost over there’s no point in enrolling you so, if you want to be in your actual grade next year I would suggest having someone tutor you throughout the summer so you can try and catch up. Now either I can tutor you or we can see about finding someone else to do it. The choice is entirely up to you.”

“I don’t mind you teaching me,” Billy peered at her through his thick black bangs. “As long as you don’t mind, that is.”

“I don’t mind at all,” Black Canary smiled. She reached into her bag and pulled out some cards with simple math equations on them. “Let’s see how many of these you can get right.”

The next few hours passed rather quickly. Billy and Black Canary went over several math and spelling cards. Conner watched in curiosity, noticing that Billy did better with the math problems and that he looked surprised whenever Black Canary praised him for getting something right. He tensed when he got the answer wrong, a fact that had Black Canary pursing her lips even as she gave him a reassuring smile.

When the other kids returned from school Black Canary excused herself and went back to the Watchtower where Batman was waiting by the zeta tubes.  
“So how did the tutoring go?” he asked.

“Pretty good,” she handed him the placement tests. “I got him to memorize the first set of multiplication tables and tomorrow I’ll start working on the second and third.”  
Batman nodded, not looking surprised by the results. “Considering he never finished kindergarten we should consider ourselves lucky he can do this much.”

“I’m not trying to be judgmental but why didn’t Captain Marvel teach him this stuff?”

Batman cleared his throat. “Technically speaking Captain Marvel can’t do any of this either-the Wisdom of Solomon simply tells him what he needs to know.”

“Ah,” Black Canary nodded in understanding. “That certainly explains why he didn’t teach Billy anything. Tomorrow I’m training with Conner so I thought I’d take the opportunity to teach Billy some moves.”

“That’s not a good idea,” Batman shook his head. “He startles easily and, trust me on this, getting zapped with magic lightning hurts. As does getting attacked by a three hundred pound magical tiger,” he added as an afterthought.

“Okay then,” she blinked.

“So be careful,” Batman frowned at her then used the zeta tube to return to Gotham.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is already written out, I just have to type it up. After that, since I'm writing this at break during 11 hour work days I can't make any promises but my goal is have the next 2 chapters posted by Saturday.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Black Canary ignores Batman's warning and suffers the consequences when Billy's training goes awry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: This chapter includes a flashback to child abuse. Please proceed with caution.

Black Canary showed up early at the Cave the next morning, eager to get the schoolwork out of the way so they could get onto the training. She hadn’t completely dismissed Batman’s warning but figured she probably looked less threatening than he did. “Good morning, boys,” she greeted. “Are you done with your schoolwork?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Billy nodded proudly as he handed her a piece of paper with the names of every Justice League and Young Justice member written semi-neatly. “I had some help with the spelling,” he admitted sheepishly.

“That’s fine,” she smiled. “Conner?”

“I only left one blank,” he tried to look and sound indifferent but failed.

“Awesome,” she held up a hand which Conner looked at blankly then slapped it with his own. “Today I thought we’d save the schoolwork for later and do some training first if that’s okay.”

“Sure,” Conner shrugged.

“Can I watch?” Billy asked eagerly. “That kind of stuff looks really cool.”

Black Canary seized the opportunity and smiled at the little boy. “Actually I was wondering if you would be willing to let me show you a few moves. That way, in case you couldn’t use your magic for some reason, you could still defend yourself. What do you say?”

Billy chewed his lip, fear and indecision warring on his face then he slowly nodded. “Can I take Mr. Tawky Tawny?”

“Of course,” Black Canary headed towards the training room, Billy and Conner not far behind. After reaching the center of the room she took the universal fighting stance: one foot in front of the other, weight evenly distributed between them, her fists parallel to her feet. “Now, Billy, I want you to come at me with everything you’ve got.”

Billy looked rather doubtful even as he took a deep breath and ran straight towards her, shrieking like a banshee. It probably would’ve been more impressive if he hadn’t tripped over one of his shoelaces and fell flat on his face.

Conner snorted. Black Canary shot him a stern look then crossed the room to where Billy had managed to pull himself into a sitting position, ruefully rubbing his left knee. “Are you okay?” she reached for him, intent on wrapping her arms around the boy in an attempt to comfort him.

Billy looked up, fear clouding his eyes as he let out a loud scream. “I’m sorry, I won’t do it again!” he sobbed.

Black Canary froze, her hands still stretched towards him. She was unsure of what to do next when, suddenly, there was a loud roar and the stuffed tiger in Billy’s arms leapt at her, morphing into a magnificent beast.

“Stay away from him,” Mr. Tawky Tawny growled threateningly then turned his attention to Billy. “It’s okay,” he crooned. “No one’s going to hurt you while I’m here.”

Black Canary pulled her hands back even as Conner came to stand by her. “Is he okay?” the teenager was worried. He had never seen anyone like this: curled into a ball, sobbing as he apologized to invisible assailants.

Black Canary shook her head. “He’s having a panic attack,” she whispered. “It’s fairly common in abuse victims.” “Is there anything we can do?” Conner hated feeling helpless. He had all of this strength and power yet none of it was useful at the moment. “No,” Black Canary’s words were laced with regret. “We just have to wait it out.”

“Silence,” Mr. Tawky Tawny hissed then curled around Billy, effectively creating a barrier between them. “It’s going to be all right,” he promised.

* * *

 

Billy wasn’t sure what had happened. One moment he had been running and then he tripped. Black Canary reached out to him and suddenly he wasn’t at the Cave anymore he was-

_Four and curled in a ball as his latest foster father alternated between kicking him with steel toed work boots and hitting him with his meaty fists._

_“You stupid motherfucking brat! How difficult is it carry a damn plate?!”_

_Billy tried to protect his head with his arms, crying out as a boot connected with his left forearm. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to. Please stop; you’re hurting me.”_

_“Stop being such a baby!” he grabbed Billy by the back of his shirt, the young boy now dangling in the air._

_“Please stop,” Billy begged. “I won’t do it again, I promise.”_

_The man glowered then smirked cruelly as he rammed his fist into Billy’s stomach and then his groin before dropping him on the ground. “Clean the mess up,” he ordered then went to go watch TV._

_Billy lay there for a few minutes, quietly sobbing in pain before he finally pushed himself up and began picking up the broken pieces of a cheap yellow plate, ignoring the tears that ran down his cheeks._

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to,” Billy sobbed. He could hear angry voices in the background then suddenly he was picked up and held against a muscled chest as they began walking. Billy screamed and cried as he pounded uselessly on the strong arms but to no avail. A masculine voice was talking but he couldn’t hear it over his sobs. They sat down and Billy was pulled even closer.

It took close to half an hour but Billy finally began to calm down, his sobs having tapered off earlier. Batman continued to whisper comforting words as he held the boy close. This wasn’t the first time he’d witnessed Billy having a panic attack but it hurt every time. Children should never be afraid of other people let alone to this extreme. He had done a thorough background check on Billy after learning who he really was. The amount of abuse he had suffered had been staggering and revealed just how bad the system in Fawcett City was. He had been too late to help Billy but he could help someone else. He had donated $3,000,000-a portion of which had gone to investigating the social workers in charge of finding suitable homes. Out of the thirty-three workers three had been taking bribes to place the children in bad homes (Billy’s worker had been the first one to get arrested), five didn’t bother doing background checks and the rest simply didn’t have the time. An additional thirty had been hired and a new background check system had been implemented. He still chose to do random searches once a month just to make sure they were still doing their jobs.

“Batman?” Billy whispered in confusion, his swollen blue eyes taking in the bat emblem on the chest he was leaning on.

“Hey,” Batman smiled at the child, relaxing his grip enough that Billy could wiggle free if he wanted .

“I’m sorry,” Billy’s voice was little more than a whisper and his face red with embarrassment.

“I’ve told you before, Billy, it’s alright. It’s not your fault,” Batman placed a hand on Billy’s forehead, making sure he hadn’t given himself a fever.

“I’m fine,” Billy insisted as he tried to sit up.

Batman sighed and placed the child next to him. “I told her that it wasn’t a good idea; I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Billy yawned loudly.

“How about you take a nap?” Batman suggested. “I’ll stay and keep an eye on you until you fall asleep.”

Billy really wanted to refuse but finally nodded in agreement. He had worn himself out with crying and Mr. Tawky Tawny manifesting had drained the last of his energy. He curled up on the bed while Batman pulled the covers up around him before moving to stand in the corner. “Sweet dreams,” were the last words Billy heard before he drifted off to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Black Canary learns a few disturbing facts about Billy's past and the team learns they have a new mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Child molestation is mentioned briefly but with no graphic details.

Once he was certain Billy was asleep Batman exited his room and stalked to the living room where Black Canary and Conner were anxiously waiting.

“Is he going to be okay?” Conner asked as soon as Batman came into view.

“He’ll be fine,” Batman said curtly as he pointed to the training room. “We need to talk. Now.”

A very sheepish Black Canary followed him and blurted out, “I’m sorry,” as soon as the door closed behind her.

“Sorry?” Batman’s voice grew louder. “You’re sorry? I told you that it wasn’t a good idea but you didn’t listen to me.”

“I thought I might be less threatening than a guy wearing a bat costume,” she offered in a low voice. “When I tried to teach him how to fight I wasn’t wearing the costume,” Batman growled.

“Oh,” Black Canary fell silent for a moment then hesitantly asked, “How bad was it?”

“Very,” Batman sighed. “His social worker was taking kickbacks to put him in...undesirable homes. His hospital record is about two inches thick.”

“Was he ever…molested?” as much as she didn’t want to know the answer she needed to know if there were other precautions she had to take in order to avoid another panic attack.

“Nothing that was ever proven,” Batman glowered. “There was a complaint of ‘bad touching’ when he was four but there was insufficient evidence. A couple of months after he ran away from his last foster home one of the parents was arrested for child molestation but they never tried to follow up with any of the other kids.”

“Well that certainly explains why Wayne Enterprises donated a lot of money to clean up the foster care system in Fawcett,” she blinked.

Batman let out a heavy sigh. “If I had known the corruption was that bad I would have stepped in years ago and maybe then Billy wouldn’t have had to go through all of that.”

“Would it be all right if I stuck around and apologized to him? I still have to do Conner’s training and their schoolwork.”

“That should be fine as long as you mean it. He hates pity and charity more than anything else. I have to get going now but he’s taking a nap.”

“I won’t disturb him,” Black Canary promised.

* * *

 

By the time Billy woke up and slunk out of his room it was well after lunch and almost time for the others to get back from school. He tiptoed to the kitchen hoping that he wouldn’t be noticed but, alas, his hopes were dashed when a feminine voice spoke.

“Billy?”

Trying very hard not to curl in on himself Billy turned to face Black Canary who was halfway out of her chair while Conner shot him a look of concern. “Hi,” he said weakly, digging his nails into the palms of his hands in an effort to ground himself.

“Are…are you hungry? I can heat something up for you,” she offered, cautiously walking towards him.

“You don’t have to,” Billy protested but she was already pulling out the leftover spaghetti from the night before.

“Do you want some, Conner?” she looked at him expectantly.

“Um…sure,” was the slightly startled reply.

While Black Canary was busy preparing their food Billy sat down at the table trying not to look at anyone. “I’m sorry about earlier; I didn’t mean to freak out.”

“It’s okay.” Conner had been thoroughly instructed on how he was supposed to react. The best course of action was to act like nothing had happened but to let Billy know that he was willing to listen if he ever wanted to talk.

“It wasn’t your fault, Billy,” Black Canary sat their food in front of them. “What I did earlier was very foolish. If anyone should apologize it’s me. I didn’t mean to scare you earlier; I’m truly sorry. Can you forgive me?”

Billy considered her words then nodded. “I forgive you.”

“Thank you. Now eat up-growing boys need to eat after all.”

“Okay,” Billy dug in, eagerly devouring the remains of M'gann's supper she and Artemis had prepared the night before. Conner followed suit and Black Canary smiled at the two boys as she reclaimed her seat at the table. It was good to see that Billy had recovered from earlier although she would never forget the sound of his screams. It was a sound that would forever haunt her.

By the time that Black Canary had returned to the Watchtower and the other kids had returned from school Billy had memorized the second set of multiplication tables and knew the capital of Rhode Island. The plan was for him to work on the third set and learn the capitals of New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Delaware that afternoon. His reading skills were halfway decent and he could now recognize most of the words although he still struggled with some of the bigger ones. Conner had volunteered to help him and Billy had gratefully accepted.

“So how was today?” Kaldur asked.

“I’m not supposed to bring it up,” Conner informed them.

“Okay,” Wally drew the word out as he glanced at the clone in confusion before turning to Billy. “Can you tell us?”

Before Billy even had a chance to try and formulate a response Artemis stomped on Wally’s foot, eliciting a cry of pain from the speedster. “Ow,” he whined, hopping up and down on his uninjured foot.

“What was that for?”

“Because whatever Conner’s not supposed to talk about has to do with Billy, you moron.”

“What makes you so sure?” Wally asked then cried out again when she stomped on his other foot. “Ow! That hurts!”

“Are you okay?” M’gann flew over to Billy, looking him over worriedly. She would have checked his mind as well but had learned from experiences that humans startled easily and she did not wish to upset the younger boy.

Surrendering to the inevitable Billy sighed. “Black Canary tried to teach me self-defense earlier and I…kind of freaked out. No big deal.”

Conner stared at him in bewilderment. “I’d hate to see what you do consider a big deal then,” he said finally.

“Is everything alright?” while Billy had only been with them for a few days Kaldur had found himself growing attached to the child. If there was anything he could do to make Billy’s transition to the team easier then he would.

“Yes, everything’s fine,” Billy wished he had hidden in his room before they got home but knew that he would have had to face them sooner or later. Putting it off forever would have been great but extremely unrealistic.

Wally opened his mouth to say something but Robin beat him to it. “If you ever need to talk we’re here for you.”

The possibly heartfelt moment was cut short by the computer announcing, “Arriving: Batman.”

“Gear up,” Batman ordered once he was in the Cave. “You’ve got a mission.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this chapter is so short but the next one is much longer-I promise.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billy gets a new code name and goes on his first official mission with Young Justice which doesn't really go the way it's supposed to.

After putting on their costumes the team reassembled in the living room, eager to learn what their mission was. Billy joined them, still wearing his red sweater and jeans but he had traded the tennis shoes for a pair of steel-toed military style boots Batman had dropped off earlier. A white hooded cape adorned with gold flowers completed the ensemble, along with Mr. Tawky Tawny who was tucked into his arm.

“You’re not wearing a mask?” Robin blinked.

“I don’t have to when I can just do this,” Billy pulled the hood up and his face disappeared leaving nothing but a black mist with glowing eyes that looked eerily like Captain Marvel’s.

Wally shrieked and hid behind Artemis, cautiously peeking out. “What the hell happened to your face?!”

Artemis rolled her eyes. “He’s obviously using magic, dummy.”

Sensing Batman’s growing impatience and knowing that the argument could (and often had) last for hours Kaldur chose to interrupt. “We’re here to learn about our mission-not to argue over Billy’s costume.”

Batman shot him a brief yet grateful look then began speaking. “Recently there’s been a rash of thefts from museums. They’ve been going after what appear to be magical artifacts.” He pressed a button on the remote and pictures of what were mainly scrolls and slabs with inscriptions on them and a few gems appeared on the screen.

“Those aren’t magical,” Billy observed.

“What do you mean?” Batman turned to face him.

“The gems. I mean they’re old and pretty but that’s about it. They’ve probably absorbed a little bit of magical power but only because of how old they are.”

“And how do you know that?” Wally challenged, feeling much braver as he stepped out from behind Artemis and crossed his arms.

Billy let out a longsuffering sigh and muttered a quick incantation. An old, thick book appeared in his hands. “This is the Magical Index of Hosiah Newton. It’s a complete index of every magical artifact in existence including ones that have been destroyed and even the new ones. It’s constantly evolving and I put a spell on it to alert me if I was near or seeing/hearing about a magical artifact. So when nothing happened when a photo of the gems popped up I knew they weren’t magical.”

Robin frowned. “In that case they may have taken the gems simply to throw us off the trail.”

“Then we should focus all of our attention on the other artifacts,” Kaldur said decisively. “They obviously do not wish for us to find out why they want them.”

Batman nodded in approval. “Based on the data we’ve gathered so far there are two possible targets that could be hit next. Both have scrolls and writings but only one has some more gems. Zatara was unable to decide which one would most likely be hit next,” he looked at Billy.

“I can take a look,” he offered. “I can’t guarantee anything though.”

“Understood,” Batman pulled up the info on the two museums. “The first one is in Midway-they mostly have scrolls and a few artifacts including an old knife and a statue of Horus.”

Billy blanched when he saw the knife. “They’re going to hit that one,” he squeaked.

“What makes you so sure?” Artemis polished one of her arrows.

“And why are you so afraid?” Miss Martian frowned.

“That’s a very old and very evil knife,” Billy’s voice was somber. “In fact it’s rumored to be the same knife that Cain used to kill Abel. It’s one of the most evil artifacts that has ever existed. Any sorcerer worth their salt knows that if you dabble in the black arts it’s a status symbol. Claim and successfully use it and you would automatically be known as an extremely powerful sorcerer.”

“That is most definitely evil,” Aqualad agreed.

“So wait-are you saying that you’re a better sorcerer than Zatara?” Kid Flash raised an eyebrow.

Billy rolled his eyes. “Zatara’s way to focused on raising Zatanna to actually do any real research on magical artifacts-especially ones that are evil. Most sorcerers consider learning about the black arts to be just as evil as practicing them even if you’re a superhero. That’s another reason why Cap doesn’t broadcast his ability to perform magic.”

“Are we getting off topic?” Conner asked. “I’m not really sure.”

“The thieves have been striking a few hours after the museums’ close,” Batman explained. “What I want you to do is stakeout the place. Keep an eye out for any suspicious characters and, above all, do not break anything! The Justice League can’t really afford to keep replacing priceless artifacts,” the glare that accompanied this statement was directed at Kid Flash and Superboy who meekly nodded, remembering their last mission and $1,000,000 worth of antiques and designer rugs that had accidentally been damaged/destroyed while trying to capture a couple of smugglers who were packing heavy firepower.

“Is it safe to assume that you would like us to engage the thieves if they show up?” Kaldur asked.

“It is,” Batman confirmed. “See if you can figure out what their main objective is.”

“It will take some time but I can cross-reference the inscriptions and see if any of them have anything in common,” Billy offered.

“Good idea,” Batman nodded. “Move out and be careful,” he ordered.

 

* * *

 

 

Midway City was located in Illinois, a good thirty minute flight away from Mount Justice. Billy was impressed by the Bio Ship and spent most of the time asking Miss Martian questions about how everything worked. The others were amused by his curiousity and watched as he tried talking to the ship himself, squealing with delight when it answered.

“What would you like us to call you while we’re in the field?” Aqualad asked when he suddenly realized that they had forgotten to ask earlier.

“You can call me…Kid Marvel,” Billy announced after pausing for dramatic effect.

Kid Flash laughed. “Kid Marvel? That’s almost as stupid a superhero name as Captain Marvel, Jr.”

Billy raised an eyebrow. “This from the guy called Kid Flash?”

Kid Flash sulked while Artemis gave Billy a high-five.

“Kid Marvel it is then,” Robin grinned as Superboy snorted in amusement.

“We’re here,” Miss Martian announced as the Bio Ship began its descent.

“Finally,” Superboy grumbled.

Once the ship had landed Aqualad gave his orders as they prepared to head out. “Miss Martian, I want you to establish a telepathic link with everyone.”

“On it,” she nodded then proceeded to do so.

“We’re going to split up into four teams-each one taking a different side so the entire place is surrounded. Robin and I will take the west-Artemis; you and Miss Martian will cover the south while Kid Flash takes the east. Kid Marvel and Superboy will watch the north. Does everyone understand their orders?”

“Why am I the only one doesn’t get a partner?” Kid Flash whined.

“Because you’re the fastest one, therefore, you can cover more ground, thereby eliminating the need for a partner,” Aqualad explained reasonably.

“I am awesome,” Kid Flash puffed up in pride. Well, he tried to at least but really he just looked ridiculous.

Kid Marvel managed to stifle a giggle as they disembarked but just barely. He and Superboy found themselves at the museum’s main entrance and hid in the massive azalea bushes that lined the entire front of the building, including the main walkway. After lightly touching one of the shiny gold buttons that were on either side of his neck the cape turned black, allowing him to blend in so well that he was almost invisible. “Batman helped with some of the modifications,” he whispered to a curious looking Superboy.

 

* * *

 

 

For two very long, very boring hours the members of Young Justice remained in their hiding spots, doing their best to stay still and quiet-a task which was more difficult for select members of the team, namely Kid Flash and Superboy. Kid Marvel wasn’t having any trouble which surprised Aqualad a little bit but he chose to be grateful instead of questioning it. The two fidgety members had long since been forbidden to use the telepathic link unless they actually spotted something due to the fact that they were driving everyone else crazy. Kid Marvel had offered to put a silencing spell on them which Aqualad had seriously considered before he regretfully had to decide against it. Perhaps when they weren’t on a mission he could…

“Someone just teleported inside!” Kid Marvel reported excitedly. “I can’t see very well from here but I think its Klarion.”

“Everyone move in,” Aqualad ordered.

“Finally,” Superboy grumbled.

Within two minutes the entire team was assembled inside the museum, facing Klarion.

“It’s over, Klarion,” Aqualad cracked his water whips threateningly. “Return the stolen artifacts and this won’t get ugly.”

“That doesn’t sound like fun,” Klarion pouted. “Besides you’re here so it’s already ugly.” He snickered at his own joke while some of the Young Justice members looked affronted.

“That’s it,” Artemis growled as she cocked an arrow. “You’re going down.”

“That’s not a good idea,” Kid Marvel called but he was too late. Artemis had already released the arrow which Klarion only stared at before he snapped his fingers and it flew back towards her.

“Shit,” Artemis cursed as she quickly shot it down with another arrow. Miss Martian began levitating boxes and throwing them at Klarion who easily deflected them along with Robin’s birdarangs and smoke bombs. Some were sent back to their owners while the rest were redirected towards Aqualad and Kid Flash, slowing them down as they were forced to seek shelter. Superboy simply punched everything that Klarion threw at him, unable to advance further but not being driven back either.

“So who’s the newbie?” Klarion’s twisted grin stretched as he returned Artemis’s arrows to her yet again even though she was now shooting multiple arrows at him.

“You should be more concerned for yourself,” Miss Martian frowned as she finally seemed to realize that a physical attack wouldn’t work and began concentrating on a mental one.

Kid Marvel was about to reply but was cut off by Artemis instead. “Pay attention to who you’re fighting right now, jerk.”

“You’re no fun anymore,” Klarion snapped his fingers again and she let out a loud shriek as all of her arrows caught on fire simultaneously. While Artemis struggled to get the arrows away from her Kid Flash rushed over to help.

“Artemis!” a panicked Miss Martian flew towards her friend only to get caught in the blast. Luckily the quiver had already been removed and was midair when it exploded. Unfortunately it was still close enough that Artemis, Kid Flash and Miss Martian were knocked out even as the floor length window drapes caught on fire.

“I feel weak,” Aqualad groaned as he fell to his knees, the heat from the flames affecting him.

“I’ve got the fire; Superboy, you handle Klarion,” Robin ordered as he ran across the room.

“On it,” Superboy nodded.

“What am I-invisible?” Kid Marvel grumbled as he crossed his arms.

“They underestimate you,” Klarion observed as he casually used his magic to throw the discarded boxes at Superboy whose attention was now divided between his injured teammates and his opponent. “You’d think that they’d know better after all this time.”

“You would think,” Kid Marvel sighed as he began moving his hands, preparing to summon some mystical lightning. It wasn’t quite as powerful as Captain Marvel’s but it could still knock someone flat on their backside. “The name’s Kid Marvel by the way.”

“I thought that magic felt familiar,” two dark energy spheres struck Superboy dead in the chest; eliciting a pained grunt as he collapsed to the ground. “It’s a lot weaker of course but you share the same mystical energy, minus the DNA differentials of course.”

“Yours doesn’t feel particularly evil-just curious and mischievous,” Kid Marvel could feel the lightning nipping at his fingers, signifying that it was ready to be used. At the exact moment that Kid Marvel released the lightning Klarion sent out a particularly large sphere of dark energy and Superboy, not having paid Kid Marvel any attention, stepped between the two. “Oh no,” Kid Marvel groaned and hit the floor as the mystical attacks collided around Superboy. When the smoke cleared Klarion, the scrolls and the knife were gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the fight scene but those are not my specialty. I try to avoid them at all costs. Also I finally have a publishing schedule figured out. The goal is two chapters a week and I don't know how many I have left in this story but I'm probably about halfway done.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billy deals with the aftermath of not only their failed mission but from his panic attack earlier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brief child abuse mentioned. Nothing very graphic.

It was a very somber group that returned to Mount Justice.  Superboy leaned heavily on Miss Martian, his t-shirt completely obliterated and scorch marks all over his chest and back.  Robin, Kid Flash, and Artemis had minor burns and Kid Marvel made a valiant effort to help a still dizzy Aqualad inside.

“What happened?” Batman demanded as he guided Aqualad to the couch.

“I didn’t mean to hit Superboy, I promise!” Kid Marvel was practically in tears as he tried to explain himself.  “I was trying to attack Klarion but Superboy got in the way!”

“I was trying to protect you,” Superboy protested as he and Miss Martian sat next to Aqualad.

“I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself,” Kid Marvel snapped, crossing his arms and scowling.  “Besides didn’t you guys want a magic user specifically so you _wouldn’t_ get your asses handed to you?”

“He’s got a point,” Robin agreed.

“We did request one after all,” Artemis sighed as she began wiping the soot off of her bow.

“We did not trust you and because of that we lost the artifacts to Klarion,” Aqualad apologized.

“I hate magic,” Kid Flash groaned and flopped into an armchair.  “I’m starving.”

Miss Martian sighed.  “I’ll fix something in just a moment,” she promised.

Batman cleared his throat.  “Let’s do the debriefing first and then you can relax.”

“Slave driver,” Kid Flash grumbled.

After a quick dinner Billy retreated to his room, intending to study his magical index for any clues as to what Klarion and his accomplices were planning.  He had just settled into the bed, legs crossed with the book in front of him and a bowl of grapes to his right to snack on when there was a knock at the door.

“Who is it?” he called.

“It’s Conner.  Can I come in?”

“Sure.”

The door opened and Conner stepped inside.  His shirt had been replaced, covering up the majority of the bandages although some could still be seen close to his neck where they wrapped over his shoulder and down his back.

“How’s your back?” Billy asked.

“It still hurts but that’s what I get for interfering in a wizard battle,” Conner winced as he gingerly sat on the foot of the bed.  “Actually that’s why I came in here: I wanted to apologize for getting in the way and  not trusting you to be able to take care of yourself.”

“It’s okay,” Billy said.  “I mean, after freaking out earlier I can’t say I really blame you for thinking that I couldn’t take care of myself.  No big deal.”

“If you say so,” Conner relaxed slightly.  “So what’re you doing?”

“Research on the scrolls and stuff,” Billy turned the book sideways so Conner could read it.  “Do you mind helping me?  I’m still having trouble with some of the words.”

“Sure,” Conner smiled and the two got to work.

* * *

 

Billy didn’t sleep well that night.  He knew himself well enough to know that after having a panic attack he was going to have nightmares.  It was around one am when he woke everyone up by screaming at the top of his lungs.

Superboy and Aqualad burst into his room, blearily looking for an intruder.  M’gann was right behind them but, being a telepath, she was able to discover the cause immediately and flew straight to him.  “I’ve got this,” she told the others.  “I can handle it.”

“If you are certain,” Kaldur bowed before returning to his room.  Conner cast a worried glance in her direction but followed suit.

Since Billy hadn’t woken up yet M’gann placed her hands on either side of his head and entered his mind.  M'gann's limited experience with human minds (no one on Mars wanted a White Martian in their head) had taught her that no two people had the same landscape.  Even so she had come to expect a few things-namely that everything had some level of organization and usually some pretty scenery (even Conner, for all his anger, had pink rosebushes growing).  However, she found none of that in Billy’s mind.

It was dark and gloomy even as broken streetlamps tried desperately to keep their flickering lights on.  Old, decrepit buildings lined both sides of the street missing most, if not all of their windows.  A few were boarded up with No Trespassing signs posted on the doors.

“Billy?” she called out uncertainly.  “Where are you?” when she received no answer M’gann focused her mind, trying to figure out where he was hiding.  Once she made contact she turned and entered the building to the left.

As she took the stairs M’gann felt herself relax when she realized that Billy’s mind wasn’t as dark or bereft as she had originally thought.  There were a couple of cracked mirrors coated in a fine layer of dust but then the pictures started.  She could see Captain Marvel in quite a few and there was even one of the Justice League.  Batman starred in some and the rest were of the Young Justice team.  She could hear screams and sobs coming from ahead so she quickened her pace, fury filling every fiber of her being when she saw what was happening.

Billy was smaller, appearing to be around six.  A huge, obviously drunk man had a hand on the back of his neck, holding him against the wall as he beat the young boy with a belt.  Curses spewed out of his mouth and he seemed happy to ignore the blood dripping on his shoes.

“Stop!” M’gann used her powers to freeze the scene-a temporary solution at best.  “Billy?”

“M’gann?” Billy turned his head to look at her.  “W-what’re you doing here?”

“You’re having a nightmare,” she explained gently.  “I entered your mind to see if I could help.”

“Can you make them go away?” he asked, blue eyes shining with hope.

“Not for good,” she admitted.  “But I can help you construct mental barriers so that they’re not as prevalent in your mind.  Like I said, it’s not a permanent fix but it will help until you learn how to block off the memories yourself or can process them without getting upset like this.”

“Please,” Billy whispered, his voice thick with unshed tears.

M’gann smiled and knelt so that they were at the same level.  She clasped his hands in her own and said, “I want you to imagine a wall.  Behind it are all of your bad memories and there’s a door-it’s open right now.  I want you to close it okay?  You don’t have to worry about locking it-I’ll do that.  You just have to close it.”

“Okay,” Billy nodded then squeezed his eyes shut as he began concentrating.

Slowly the scenery began to change.  The frozen memory shimmered out of existence and a door appeared in the wall.  M’gann rose and fastened the six locks she had conjured then began inspecting the wall, fixing the cracks and holes.  Once she was satisfied with its condition she turned back to Billy who had returned to his normal size.

“Are you ready to wake up now?” she asked.

‘Yes,” he nodded.  “Thank you for the help-I really appreciate it.”

“Not a problem,” she smiled.  “If you want I can see about teaching you how to build and maintain the mental blocks yourself,” she offered.

“Wow.  Really?  That would be awesome.”  Impulsively he wrapped his arms around her and, although surprised, she smiled warmly as she returned the embrace.

* * *

 

When Billy opened his eyes the first thing he saw was M’gann smiling down at him.  Memories flooded his mind and he turned red in humiliation although he valiantly resisted the urge to pull away and hide.  Having nightmares in the middle of the night and waking everyone up didn’t usually end well but the fear was muted and he wondered if that was due to the mental barrier.  If so then he could definitely get used to it.

“How are you feeling?” she smoothed his hair back.

“Tired,” his voice was scratchy from the screaming and even yawning hurt his throat.

“I’m not surprised.”  There was a knock on the door and M’gann floated over, sticking her head through it.

Billy couldn’t really hear anything but it sounded like she was talking to someone.  After a moment she pulled back, now carrying two cups of steaming hot tea.

“I had Kaldur make us some tea and honey.  It’ll help soothe your throat and help you relax,” she explained.

“Thanks,” he pushed himself into a sitting position then hesitantly accepted a cup.  After blowing on it he took a sip, letting a smile cross his face as he marveled at the taste.  Sometimes, during the winter in-between shoveling driveways and sidewalks some of the people (usually old ladies or young mothers) would give him some hot chocolate.  It was his favorite hot beverage of all time but the tea had become a close second.  “Wow.  This is amazing.”

“I’m glad you liked it,” M’gann laughed.  “I wasn’t sure what flavor you would like.”

The mug froze halfway to Billy’s mouth as he stared at her.  “There’s more than one flavor of this?”

“There are literally dozens more,” M’gann informed him.

“Well I know what I’m going to be trying once Cap has a job and money,” he declared before taking another drink.

M’gann hesitated for a moment then blurted out, “You could just stay here.  I mean no offense to Captain Marvel but then he wouldn’t have to worry about taking care of you and Mr. Tawky Tawny.”

“I can take care of myself,” Billy protested but there was no heat behind his words.  Inwardly he was screaming with joy-they wanted him to stay!  They liked him (not Cap _-him_ ) well enough to invite him to live with them!

“I know he’s been taking care of you the best that he could but if he had asked for help a long time ago then you could’ve gotten actually help with your nightmares and panic attacks and not had to deal with them on your own.”

Billy froze again, his eyes widening in horror.  She…she was mad at Cap: she blamed him for all of the issues that Billy and subsequently the Young Justice team and Batman had to deal with.  Surely not all of them could hate Cap-he had always made a special effort to be nice to Conner and had made all of those sandwiches for Wally (he did sneak a couple of bites now and then).

Misinterpreting the boy’s silence as an agreement M’gann smiled at him as she collected their cups before heading to the door.  “Just think about it.”

“I will,” he promised in a quiet whisper.

“Good night,” and with that she left, turning off the lights as she did so.

Billy lay back down and spent the rest of the night weighing his options: to stay or not to stay?  That was the question.

* * *

 

By the time Black Canary had arrived Billy was tired and cranky.  He hadn’t done his homework yet and all attempts to engage him were met with hostility.  Conner simply shrugged in confusion when she looked to him for answers so Black Canary chose to leave early-there was no point in trying to force geography and math down the throat of someone who’s stuffed tiger kept snarling.

Batman raised an eyebrow when she exited the zeta tube.  “That was a short lesson,” he commented.

“Billy was in a very bad mood today so I decided to end things early,” she explained.  “Conner told me he had a nightmare last night but I don’t think that was the cause.  He just seemed…mad for some reason.”

Batman frowned.  “I’ll look into it,” he promised then went to do just that.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Batman has a heart-to-heart with Billy and learns more about their enemy's goals.

“Billy’s in his room,” Conner said by way of greeting when Batman arrived.

“Thanks,” Batman nodded before continuing down the hall.  “Billy?” he knocked on the door.  “Can I come in?”

“Yes,” Billy called.

Batman entered, taking notice of the fact that Billy was curled on his side scowling angrily at the wall.  “Is everything alright?” he sat on the edge of the bed.  “You seem…angry.”  Anger issues were not uncommon in pre-teens especially ones who were also abuse survivors.  He had seen a few of Billy’s temper tantrums and while he could get violent (to a degree-he had thrown a plastic cup at Batman’s head) they usually passed fairly quickly and Billy was left feeling apologetic but he was that way most of the time.  A lifetime of being beaten for simple (or even non-existent) mistakes had taught him that apologizing was always the best course of action even when there was nothing to be sorry for.

“M’gann said something mean about Cap last night, that’s all,” Billy said.

“Do you mind telling me what she said?” Batman asked, setting his hand on the bed next to Billy so the boy could grab it if he wanted to.

Billy chewed his bottom lip indecisively then began speaking.  “She said that it was Cap’s fault that I have to deal with the nightmares and panic attacks because he didn’t ask for help when he joined the Justice League.”

Batman groaned internally even as he resolved to have a long talk with the Young Justice members.  “If it’s anyone’s fault then it’s mine for not talking you home with me the moment I found out about you.”  He had been on the receiving end of a very stern talking to courtesy of Alfred when the butler had been made aware of Captain Marvel’s…situation.  Honestly, if it weren’t for the fact that they were in the middle of an alien invasion at the time he wouldn’t have been surprised if Alfred himself had marched to Fawcett to retrieve Billy.  Afterwards it was only due to the formation of Young Justice and Batman’s promise to arrange for Captain Marvel to work with them that Alfred had been appeased.

“I mean it wouldn’t be so bad but I spent more time with them than the Justice League-you’d think that they’d trust him more,” confusion laced Billy’s words and showed in the frown lines around his mouth.

“They don’t know that you and Captain Marvel are the same person,” Batman reminded him.  “But that doesn’t mean that you’re wrong either.  Perhaps if you told them-“

“No!” Billy burst out.  “If they knew then they’d feel bad about thinking those things and I don’t want them to be nice to Cap because of that.  I want them to be nice to Cap because they _want_ to-not cuz they feel bad.”  He started playing with Batman’s hand, his eyes hidden behind his bangs.

Batman couldn’t deny that it was a valid point.  Pity automatically translated to weakness in Billy’s eyes and weakness meant you were an easy target for cruel foster parents and bullies.  “I’m sorry I didn’t take you home with me that day,” he allowed the sadness to leak into his voice so that Billy could hear the sincerity behind the words.  If he had done so then Billy could have already been receiving professional help and possibly trusted Dick enough to reveal his identity and maybe to even the rest of the team.  Now, however, it was too late for that.  Billy would never feel comfortable living with Dick if he thought the older boy hated Captain Marvel.

“Me too,” Billy pulled Batman’s hand to his chest, practically hugging it.

The two heroes were silent for several minutes before Batman thought to ask, “You’ve been eating, right?”

“Yes,” Billy rolled his eyes even as he smiled.  After learning his identity Batman had taken it upon himself to make sure Captain Marvel ate (or at least took something home) every time he came to the Watchtower, confusing more than a few of the older members.  Once, when Billy had gotten two days off in a row (after pulling double shifts for both Flash and Green Lantern), he came home one afternoon following a fairly successful haul at a nearby dumpster (a burger with only two bites taken out of it and a partially eaten chocolate chip cookie) to find the older superhero perched on the edge of his mattress holding a take-out box that had obviously come from the Watchtower cafeteria.  He had stayed until Billy finished every last bite then left but did the same thing the next day and every other time Billy didn’t have to report for duty.

“I’ll be double-checking with M’gann and Black Canary just so you know,” Batman warned jokingly.

“You will find I speak the truth, sir,” Billy shot back.

Batman’s lips twitched briefly before he, regretfully, turned the conversation to more serious matters.  “Have you learned anything about the stolen artifacts?”

“Actually Conner and I did manage to figure out a few things,” Billy sat up, pulling his book out from underneath his pillow.  “Three of the scrolls have magic spells that involve teleportation to and from other dimensions and another four that have to do with creating new dimensions.”

“That’s not good at all,” Batman frowned.  Other dimensions caused their own…unique set of problems.  Last time he had spent an hour fending off the advances of both Superman and Wonder Woman.  While he would admit to finding them…attractive Clark was happy with Lois and both he and Diana weren’t looking for anything at the moment.

Clearly remembering some of the mission reports Billy smirked even as he said, “Whatever they’re up to must be pretty big but I highly doubt they’re going to create their own dimension.”

“Why not?” most people (magic-users included) would think twice about consulting a child but as long as they knew what they were talking about Batman didn’t see why it really mattered.  Robin was twelve and Batman trusted his opinion more than most seasoned detectives.

“Well for starters, in order to do that they would have to perform a human sacrifice of at least two hundred and fifty people and while there are plenty of sorcerers who wouldn’t mind doing that Klarion isn’t one of them no matter what he says.”

Batman paled at the news and thanked his lucky stars that Billy was correct about Klarion.  No matter how much the teenage sorcerer claimed otherwise he wasn’t actually evil but more mischievous than anything.  “Any idea what they could hope to accomplish?”

Billy shook his head.  “Not really but if I had to hazard a guess I’d say that they’re probably after something specific and it might not be in the form they want in another dimension.  More than likely they’ll steal it from this dimension but if it’s that important then it’s probably heavily guarded and extremely difficult to get to.  If that’s the case then splitting the dimensions would be their best bet as it would be easy to steal whatever they wanted in the middle of all the confusion.”

“Lovely,” Batman sighed.  “Do you have any theories as to how the split will manifest?”

Billy shrugged.  “I’m not really sure but they would have to have sorcerers on both sides so they couldn’t separate the normal people from the magic-users.  Maybe kids in one dimension and adults in another? I don’t know for sure but there is another spell they would probably need but it’s not in a museum.  It’s owned by someone named Ebenezer Batson-no relation,” he added hastily.

“I’ll see what I can find,” Batman promised as he stood up.  “Will you be alright?”

“Yeah but I think I’m going to take a nap,” Billy yawned.  “W-will you tell Conner and Black Canary I’m sorry for being rude earlier?”

“Of course,” Batman smiled then left.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team heads out on their next mission and Robin has a talk with Billy.

“I know you mean well but please don’t insult Captain Marvel in front of Billy,” Batman directed his comment at M’gann who flushed.

“Sorry,” she apologized as she set her backpack down, having literally just returned from school.

“Is that why he’s been so moody?” Conner asked.

“He’s sorry by the way,” Batman informed him.  “I have to go follow up on a lead he gave me.  I’ll be back later when I have something more definitive to give you.”

“Okay,” Kaldur nodded as Batman left.

“So what did we miss?” Robin asked.

“Apparently a lot,” Wally quipped.

“Artemis said she had stuff she had to do at home and to just let her know if a mission came up,” Robin said when he saw Conner glancing around the room in search of their missing teammate.

“So what’d you say to Billy?” Wally shoved a handful of chips in his mouth.

“That Captain Marvel should have asked for help when he joined the Justice League,” M’gann frowned at her homework. Apparently she was supposed to read a book on human adultery and do a three page book report by Friday.  In addition she had fifty Geometry problems due tomorrow plus a hand-drawn map of the planet Earth.  Originally it had been called a World Map but after aliens had revealed their existence they had changed it to an Earth Map.

“Can’t say I disagree with you,” Robin shrugged.

Kaldur frowned at them.  “No matter our personal feelings on the subject Captain Marvel is obviously very important to Billy so we should respect that.”

“I know,” M’gann sighed as she sat at the table next to Conner.  “I was just trying to convince him to stay here instead of moving back in with Captain Marvel.”

“While the idea is good perhaps we should employ a different method of execution,” Kaldur suggested.

Conner just stared at him.  “If you keep talking like that he’ll definitely leave.  No one wants to carry a dictionary around all the time just so they can understand you.”

Wally laughed then choked on his chips.  After swallowing he called out, “Burn!”

“Good one,” Robin cackled.

* * *

 

It was nearly suppertime when Batman returned.  He looked more annoyed than usual although he shot a quick smile at a sleepy-eyed Billy who put up the math problems he had been puzzling over before turning his attention to the Dark Knight who stood in the middle of the room.

“Another mission already?” Wally whined as they gathered in the living room.

“Thanks to Billy we’ve discovered their final target.  It’s a scroll owned by a private collector: Ebenezer Batson.  He’s not related to Billy,” he added when everyone turned to look at their youngest member.  “I’ve spoken to Mr. Batson and he’s refusing to let us keep an eye on the scroll.”

“Why don’t we just take the scroll so the bad guys can’t get it?” Conner wanted to know.

“Because Ebenezer Batson is a greedy, old man that’s made his fortune at the expense of others,” Batman’s disgust toward the man was evident by the sneer that accompanied his words.  “I have no doubt that if he knew how to contact them he would have already just sold it to them.”

“Conner has a valid point,” M’gann pointed out.  “Why can’t we just take the scroll and say that it’s for the good of humanity?”

Batman sounded regretful as he sighed and said, “Because we don’t technically have that kind of authority.  We have enough trouble trying to pull that with known criminals, let alone an individual.”

“What will we be doing then?” Kaldur asked with a frown.

Wally rolled his eyes and scoffed.  “Obviously we’ll be staking out his place without him knowing about it and fight Klarion when he shows up.”

“That pretty much sums it up,” Batman admitted.  “Gear up.  I want you ready to leave in five.”

“What about Artemis?” Robin asked.

Batman shook his head.  “We don’t have time to wait on her.”

* * *

 

Kid Marvel and Robin were the first to arrive in Fawcett City, having elected to use the zeta tube so they could scope out the area and find a good place for the Bio Ship to land as most people didn’t have backyards large enough for alien spaceships to land.  Since Kid Marvel had grown up in Fawcett he had offered to go and Robin quickly volunteered to accompany him, hoping to learn more about their new friend.

“Are you sure it’s okay to be walking around in the open like this wearing our costumes?” it just felt so…wrong walking around at dusk not even trying to hide.

“Yep,”Kid Marvel nodded as he navigated the alleyways with ease.  “No one really notices.  I’m not really sure why but I think it has something to do with the Wizard.  I mean the Rock of Eternity is underneath the city after all-you can’t tell me that some of the magical energy hasn’t affected it in some way.”

“Good point,” Robin admitted as he noticed the few people they passed giving them little more than a curious glance before going back to what they had been doing.  “Did you live around here?  You seem to know this area pretty well.”

“Uh-huh,” Billy nodded.  “Cap and I were staying there,” he pointed at a pile of rubble, “but it was demolished last week so Batman decided that it was a good time to try and convince me to stay with you guys.  He does that every other visit,” he rolled his eyes.

Robin took careful notice of the fact that Billy had said _he_ was the one that had originally protested staying with Young Justice.  “What does Captain Marvel think?” though it was phrased as a casual question it really wasn’t.

Judging by the look Kid Marvel threw him he had obviously picked up on it.  “He said it my life so I should get to decide but he thinks I should stay with you guys.”

“You know that M’gann didn’t mean to insult Cap, right?” Robin had no trouble reading body language and in-between the lines and had heard the defensive tone in Billy’s voice when he had mentioned that it was his choice not to stay with Young Justice and not Captain Marvel’s.

“If she wants to apologize then she can but only if she means it,” there was a note of finality in Kid Marvel’s voice that signified the end of the conversation.

They walked in silence for a few more minutes before Kid Marvel pointed to a well-to-do area.  “This is his street,” he spoke in a low voice.

“Very fancy,” Robin whispered back.  “We’re looking for 203.”

“It’s the one without a big fence,” Kid Marvel said.  “I stayed on this street for a week when I was five.  He’s an asshole.”

Robin grinned as they snuck into the big backyard.  Whoever Ebenezer Batson was he seemed to be very concerned with appearances.  The outside of the house had been freshly painted and the windows were so clean that they seemed to sparkle.  Gorgeous flowers surrounded the outside of the building and lined the stone walkways but, upon closer inspection, it became obvious that the flowers were large enough to cover up the fact that they were spaced far apart-a cost saving measure no doubt.  The top layer of wood chips covering the ground beneath them was an expensive white opaque that Robin recognized from the Wayne Manor gardens and underneath that was a very ugly brown-an overly cheap brand that Alfred had pointed out with disgust before moving on.

“What do you think?” Kid Marvel asked.

“Looks like the perfect size for the Bio Ship,” Robin whispered cheerfully.  “Let’s call the others and let them know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will have more action in it-at least to the best of my very poor fight scene writing abilities.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fight against Klarion and Felix Faust would have probably gone a lot better if Ebenezer Batson hadn't decided he wanted to make a profit.

It wasn’t long before the Bio Ship (cloaked of course) landed in Ebenezer Batson’s backyard.  It was a perfect landing: the vessel made no noise as it touched down and it caused only a very slight breeze, the treetops just barely swaying.  Miss Martian had thought ahead and made sure that the entrance was on the side not facing the house.  The team was quiet as they disembarked, Kid Flash and Superboy had been lectured throughout the flight on the importance of staying quiet and were trying their best as neither of them really wanted to be subjected to yet another lecture from Batman.

“Any activity?” Aqualad asked in a hushed voice after locating his teammates.

Kid Marvel shook his head.  “Not yet but it’s only been dark for a little over an hour so they might not show up for awhile.  Or they could show up right now,” he added as a brilliant Flash of light lit up the bottom floor of the house.

“Move in,” Aqualad ordered.

Kid Marvel closed his eyes and focused.  He could feel two distinct magical signatures-Klarion and Felix Faust.  His eyes opened and he let out a heavy sigh as he ignored his teammates who were trying to get inside and quickly bit on his finger, drawing blood.  He used the blood to draw a magic circle in the air, muttering an incantation as he did so.

For a moment everything was white then Kid Marvel found himself standing in a room filled to the brim with priceless artifacts in fancy display cases.  Neither Klarion nor Felix Faust looked surprised to see him although Ebenezer Batson certainly did judging by the way he stumbled backwards.  Ebenezer was a short, spindly old man.  His white hair was stringy and thinning and the glasses sitting on his thin nose did nothing to hide the greedy look in his watery blue eyes.

“What’s going on here?” the old man screeched.

A wave of dizziness hit Kid Marvel and he almost hit the ground but caught himself on a nearby coffee table, feeling sharp pain run through him and he almost groaned when he realized that by using such an advanced spell the magic had been forced to draw from his life force, causing the ulna in his left arm to splinter.  “I won’t let you steal that scroll,” his voice, fortunately, managed to sound slightly menacing even as the backdoor opened and his teammates entered.

“It’s only stealing if I don’t give them permission to take it,” Ebenezer scowled at the heroes.  “We were in the middle of discussing that when you broke in.  I did not agree to let you on my property or in my house!”  He turned back to the villains both of whom looked bored.  “Now then I would like to know how much you’re willing to offer for this valuable scroll.”

“I don’t like him,” Superboy declared. “Can we beat him up?”

“Seriously,” Kid Flash chimed in.  “If he wants to help the villains I say we take him in too.”

“Pay?” Klarion scoffed.  “Why on Earth would I give you money for that when I can just do this?” he snapped his fingers and Ebenezer’s feet caught on fire.  He screamed and dropped the scroll which Kid Flash caught just before it hit the ground.

“I’ve got it!” he yelled jubilantly right before he slipped on a patch of ice Felix Faust had conjured up and hit the wall, dropping the scroll as he passed out.

“Kid Flash!” Miss Martian yelled in worry as she flew over to her injured teammate, paying no attention to the fights breaking out around her.

“Don’t worry, you’re safe now,” Aqualad put out the fire and attempted to reassure the crotchety old man.

“Get your hands off of me you freak!” Ebenezer took a swing at Aqualad who easily dodged it.  “You and your friends are destroying my property!”

“We’re trying to save it,” an annoyed Robin called as he threw birdarang after birdarang at Felix Faust who merely countered with powerful spells.

Superboy was covering Miss Martian and Kid Flash as both Klarion and Felix Faust directed the occasional spell or physical object their way although most of Klarion’s attention was focused on Kid Marvel.

Unfortunately, Kid Marvel had used up a good deal of his magical energy by teleporting and was having trouble blocking Klarion’s attacks with a broken arm.  His teammates were occupied with Felix Faust who was more powerful than Klarion and besides, after the fuss he had made last time he didn’t have much of a choice but to do this by himself.  Although if Mr. Batson didn’t stop screaming about his precious stuff being destroyed Kid Marvel was going to deck him.  It looked like Aqualad was thinking the same thing even as he tried to reason with the old man and protect him at the same time.

“Pay attention please,” Klarion cackled before throwing yet another fireball.

Kid Marvel just barely dodged it, having to grab a display case for support when his legs threatened to give out.  “Watch your aim,” he tried to sound playful as he conjured a small ball of lightning and tossed it.  Kid Marvel blushed when it fizzled out mere inches from Klarion who sniggered.

“Looks like someone needs a nap,” he jeered.

As everyone was otherwise occupied no one noticed Teekl as he made his way to where the scroll lay, only a few feet from the unconscious Kid Flash.  Carefully skirting around Miss Martian and Superboy as they tried to help Robin take on Felix Faust he arrived at his destination, grabbing the scroll with his teeth before he returned to his Master’s side.

“Good work, Teekl,” Klarion praised, rewarding his familiar with a scratch behind the ears.  “Farewell, heroes,” he and Felix Faust disappeared in a Flash of light.

 _I failed,_ Kid Marvel thought distantly as the room went black and he fell to the ground, the screams of his teammates echoing in his ears.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the aftermath of Klarion and Felix Faust's victory Billy's world is thrown into even more chaos and he finally makes a fateful decision.

“Is he going to be okay?” Artemis asked worriedly.  Despite the fact that it was a school night and she was only halfway through her homework she had rushed over as soon as she heard the news.

“He’ll be fine,” Batman informed the teens anxiously gathered outside of the infirmary.

“That’s good,” Kaldur sighed in relief.

“He used a good deal of magical energy during the fight so it’s going to take some time for him to recover it.  His left arm is broken and he has minor burns but once he recovers his magic he can use a healing spell to speed everything else up.”

“And Wally?” M’gann twisted her hands in worry.

‘He’s got a mild concussion,” Batman sighed.  “I want him to stay in the infirmary overnight just in case though.”

“He and Billy can keep each other company,” Robin grinned.

“So what happened to Mr. Batson?”  Since his teammates were going to be all right Conner felt it was appropriate to turn the conversation to more serious matters.

“It turns out that quite a few of his artifacts were acquired through less than legal means and since he attacked two police officers when they arrived at the scene he will be going to jail for a long time,” Batman sounded rather pleased.

“Yes,” Robin fist pumped in excitement.

“May we see them now?” Kaldur asked, aware that they were all tired and that most of them had school the next day.

“Yes but keep it brief-they both need to rest,” Batman stepped aside to let them in.

“Hi,” Wally waved as they entered.  Despite the bandage on his forehead he seemed very alert.

Billy, on the other hand, was so pale he almost blended in with the sheets.  His left arm was in a blue cast and he was drinking what looked like a fruit smoothie.  “Hi,” he whispered weakly.

“So how’d you do that?” Conner motioned towards the cast.  “I don’t remember seeing you even hit it on anything.”

Billy blushed just a little.  “It’s a side effect of using an advanced spell that I haven’t completely mastered yet,” he explained.  “I’m sorry for letting them get away,” he blurted out.  “If I was stronger I could have stopped them.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Billy,” M’gann said kindly.

“You did the best that you could,” Kaldur agreed.

Seeing that Billy looked like he was going to continue arguing Artemis put in her two cents worth.  “I may not have been there, kid, but I’m sure if Captain Marvel were here he’d agree with them.”

Billy beamed at her but then faltered when Robin asked, “Where is he anyways?  I mean, I get why Flash isn’t here-he and his wife are on vacation plus this isn’t the first time Wally’s been injured but this is the first time you’ve been hurt and he hasn’t stopped by since you got here but he can patrol Fawcett City every day.”

“Um,” Billy racked his brain, desperately trying to come up with an excuse that didn’t involve ‘Oh the Cap everyone’s been seeing is just a magical double I created the last time I was Cap that only lasts for a week.’  “We talk every night using magic,” he settled for.  “Besides this isn’t the first time I’ve gotten hurt practicing magic,” he said sheepishly, thinking back to the time he had set his shoes on fire while he was still wearing them.  Batman had been decidedly un-amused when he found out.  He had had trouble walking for a few days until the burns (minor, thankfully) had healed.

“What about me?” Wally whined.  “I got hurt too.”

“You’ll be fine,” Artemis said flippantly.  “It’s not like you have anything in your head that needs to be protected anyways.”

Before Wally could respond Kaldur intervened.  “It’s getting late and we all need to get some rest.  We will see you in the morning,” he nodded at his injured teammates before leaving.

“Sweet dreams,” M’gann smiled as she and Conner made their way out as well.

“Night,” Conner said shortly.

“See you,” Robin waved as he and Artemis left, closing the door behind them.

Despite all of the tumultuous thoughts running through his head it didn’t take Billy long to fall into a troubled sleep.

* * *

 

“Hey guys,” Black Canary smiled as she emerged from the zeta tube.  Wally, Billy and Conner were sitting at the table, the latter two pouring over their schoolwork while Wally was pretending to read a book.  “How’s everyone doing today?”

“Bored,” Wally groaned theatrically.  “There’s nothing to do and Batman won’t let me go to school today which is nice.”

“And you two?” she asked.

Conner scowled.  “I’m having trouble with Chemistry,” he admitted.

“I’ll help you in just a moment,” she promised.  “How’s your arm?” she looked at Billy.

“Sore,” he sighed.  “I can’t wait until I have enough magic energy to heal it.”

“I bet,” Black Canary smiled as he drank the smoothie sitting next to him.  She recognized the drink as one of Batman’s special concoctions.  It was a special blend of fruits, vegetables and vitamins that worked together to keep up strength, energy and helped hurry up the healing process.  Despite the numerous complaints that Batman was being a mother hen she had caught every member of the League drinking one at one point or another.  “Have you gotten any signatures yet?” She sat down between him and Conner, reaching for Conner’s Chemistry homework which he happily relinquished.

“Uh huh,” Billy nodded, eagerly holding out his cast for inspection.  “Everyone signed it this morning before they left and Batman stopped by just so he could too.”

Black Canary smiled.  “That was nice of him: do you think there’s still some room for me to sign?”

“Of course.”

“Thanks,” she found a marker and carefully wrote ‘Hope you feel better soon!  BC.’  “Captain Marvel didn’t sign it?” she asked in surprise after reading the other messages.

“He never stopped by,” Wally informed her.

“He was really busy,” Billy said quickly.  “Besides we talking this morning using an inter-dimensional crystal ball.”

Black Canary looked at Conner who shook his head in disbelief.  “All right then,” she decided it would be for the best to simply move on.  “Is there anything you’re having trouble with, Billy?”

“A few things,” he handed the multiplication cards back.

“Tell you what-let me help Conner first and then I’ll get to you, okay?”

“Okay,” Billy nodded.

By the time Black Canary left Conner was almost done with his Chemistry book and would no doubt have it finished by morning.  Billy had memorized the first six sets of multiplication tables and was planning on having the first ten done by Friday.  He was coming along pretty good on learning the states and their capitals.  Once he had those mastered Black Canary planned on teaching him about the Presidents and Vice Presidents and then other countries.  Billy was fascinated by history of any kind and she made a mental note to get him some books on the subject.

“Hello, Batman,” she greeted after returning to the Watchtower and finding him waiting for her once again.  “The lessons went well today although Conner and I were wondering why Captain Marvel hasn’t visited Billy yet.”

Batman let out an exasperated sigh.  “Captain Marvel has his reasons for not visiting Billy-reasons which I understand and have promised not to share.”

Black Canary frowned but Batman remained undeterred.  “Fine,” she relented.  “I trust you and Captain Marvel as well so I won’t pursue it any further.”

“Thank you.  I’m sure Billy will appreciate it.”

* * *

 

Later that night, not long after he had gone to bed Billy got back up and headed towards the kitchen, eager for a snack.  He smiled happily at the thought of getting to eat whenever he wanted.  It was a wonderful sensation, one he doubted he would ever get used to.  He was brought out of his musings by the sound of voices up ahead.  He slowed down when he was able to make out what they were saying.

“Why are we having this argument _again_?” Conner groaned.

“I must concur,” Kaldur spoke.  “Speaking ill of Captain Marvel only angers Billy and if we continue doing so then he will leave regardless.”

“I’m with Kaldur,” Artemis’s chair squeaked as she shifted in her seat.

“Sure there must be something we can do to convince him to stay,” M’gann fretted.

“Well unless you can convince the Big Red Cheese to talk Billy into staying I think we’re out of luck,” Wally’s words were muffled as he ate what was probably the last of M’gann's chocolate cake.

“The Big Red Cheese?” Robin sniggered.  “You really need to stop watching the supervillain late night talk show.”

“Oh like you can talk,” Wally snapped.

There’s no telling how the argument would have gone if M’gann hadn’t said in a quiet voice, “I honestly don’t know if I can treat Captain Marvel with respect after this.”

Not wanting to hear anymore Billy turned and headed back to his room, thoughts of a snack long forgotten.  Once there he sat on the bed, hugging his knees to his chest as he began to cry.  He didn’t want to leave-he didn’t but, on the other hand, he didn’t want to stay if they hated Captain Marvel.  He stayed like that for quite some time before coming to a decision.  He turned on his League communicator and waited until the party on the other end picked up.  “Batman?  It’s Billy; I thought you should know that I’ve made a decision.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just three more chapters and this story should finally be done! I hope everyone is still enjoying it.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billy moves to his new apartment and the team tries to make amends. Meanwhile...the plot thickens.

Morning arrived too quickly in Conner’s opinion and he grumbled as he got out of bed and got dressed.  He was fixing to head for the kitchen when he heard Captain Marvel’s voice coming from Billy’s room.  He changed gears and joined M’gann and Kaldur who were also heading that way.  Upon their arrival they stopped in the doorway once they realized that Billy wasn’t there.

Captain Marvel was busy packing Billy’s meager belongings while Batman stood in the middle of the room, trying to reason with him.  “Don’t be so hasty-give them one more chance,” the Dark Knight pleaded.

Captain Marvel turned and glared at him.  “We had an agreement,” he hissed.  “Billy gave them a chance and you promised to never bring it up again in exchange.”

Batman let out a heavy sigh.  “Very well,” he held out a brown file and a set of keys which Captain Marvel took.  “You are officially now a legal citizen of Fawcett City.  Here are your ids including a passport and bank account along with documents that say you’re Billy’s legal guardian.  A copy of the lease of your apartment is in there as well.  The first and last months’ rent has already been paid.”

“Thank you,” Captain Marvel said stiffly as he put the last of Billy’s things in a red duffel bag.

“Will you at least allow Black Canary to continue tutoring Billy?” Batman asked.

Captain Marvel shrugged.  “As long as she doesn’t mind coming to Fawcett she’s more than welcome to.”  He shouldered the backpack and duffel bag as he turned to face the teens standing in the doorway.  “Billy has requested that the Young Justice team stay out of our city.”

Kaldur didn’t seem particularly surprised at the news unlike M’gann who looked upset.  “But that’s not fair!” she protested.  “Billy needs more than what you’ve been providing.  Not to mention I find it extremely suspicious that he would just up and leave without telling anybody or taking his stuff.”

“And just how do you expect him to carry anything with a broken arm?” Captain Marvel raised an eyebrow.  “Or any magic powers?”

“Billy told me last night,” Batman stepped forward.  “He didn’t particularly feel like seeing you so he returned to Fawcett early this morning.”

“Thanks for everything, Bats,” Captain Marvel maneuvered his way out of the room, the zeta tube announcing his departure shortly after.

“Well this sucks,” Conner grumbled as he crossed his arms and scowled.

“I hope you’re happy with yourselves,” Batman’s voice was little more than a growl.

“We did not discuss Captain Marvel in front of Billy as you requested,” Kaldur stated.

“Yeah,” M’gann nodded.  “We waited until he went to bed.”

Something occurred to Conner and he gave an embarrassed cough before speaking.  “Unless that was him I heard in the hallway last night.”

“Wonderful,” Batman deadpanned.

“Do you know how we can make it up to him?” M’gann bit her bottom lip and her eyes glimmered with unshed tears.

“Unless you stop blaming Captain Marvel for his problems I highly doubt it.”  With that Batman left Mount Justice, leaving three saddened teenagers behind him.

* * *

 

As he unlocked the door to his new apartment Billy reflected on just how much he loved Fawcett City’s obliviousness to costumes.  No one had even given him a second look as he entered the apartment building as Captain Marvel, carrying his luggage.

Once inside he set his things down and yelled, “Shazam!”  The magic lightning hit him and he was Billy again.  Curious he slowly began walking around, taking everything in.  The living room was furnished with a dark red couch and armchair.  An oak coffee table separated the furniture from the flat screen TV and gaming system which he eyed eagerly.  He barely glanced at the dining room table set before peeking into the kitchen.  It was nothing special but he did grin at the sight of the fully stocked cabinets and refrigerator.

The bathroom was next and Billy giggled when he saw the Superman and Batman themes mixed together.  He took notice of the laundry basket and the roll of quarters sitting next to it along with a hand-drawn map of where the washer and dryer were located.

The last but certainly not least stop was his bedroom.  He eyed the bed happily although he blushed at the sight of Captain Marvel on the Justice League comforter.  He had two dressers: a tall brown one and a wide brown one with a mirror.  Mildly suspicious he checked the drawers and closet, sighing when he found more clothes.  The only reason he decided not to argue was because Batman had included some for Cap to wear to his new job.

The cell phone sitting on the nightstand was a nice touch and he picked it up after flopping down on the bed, smiling at the softness.  He looked through the phone, discovering that Batman had already set up an email account and downloaded a banking app so Billy could keep track of how much money he had.  The contacts revealed the information for Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Dick Grayson and a Dinah Lance (he was going to assume she was Black Canary).  He hesitated for a second then sent a quick text to Batman, letting him know that the apartment was awesome.  He let out a loud yawn then decided to take a quick nap.

* * *

 

Lunch was a frozen TV dinner followed by a bowl of ice cream while he watched cartoons.  He did his best not to think about how M'gann's food tasted better but it was a losing battle.  The noises from the TV did nothing to drown out the loneliness and he let out a loud sigh.

“Billy?” there was a knock at the door.  “It’s me, Black Canary.  Can I come in?”

Billy perked up.  “Coming,” he set his bowl down and turned off the TV.  He looked through the peephole (old habits die hard) before unlocking the door.

“Hey,” Black Canary smiled as she entered.  “Nice place,” she nodded in approval.

“Thanks but Batman decorated,” Billy shuffled his feet.

“Is Captain Marvel at work?” she set her bag on the dining room table and draped her coat on the back of a chair.

“Yeah,” Billy lied.  He decidedly didn’t mention that Captain Marvel’s new job unloading trucks didn’t start until much, much later that night.

“Did you have a chance to do your homework?” she asked.

“Yep,” he retrieved the papers from the coffee table and handed them to her.

She took a seat and looked through them before smiling at him.  “Excellent work,” she praised.

“Thanks,” Billy sat next to her.

Since she was having dinner with Ollie later than evening Black Canary didn’t stay long.  By the time she got ready to leave Billy had the multiplication tables down pat and she had gotten him started on some fairly easy division problems.  She had also given him a crash course on how to operate a stove and cooked him some Mac and cheese.

“Here’s your coat,” Billy held out the piece of clothing which Black Canary readily accepted.

“Thank you,” she put it on, making sure that her blonde hair wasn’t stuck under the collar.  “Oh I almost forgot,” she pulled a letter out of her pocket and handed it to Billy.

“What is it?” he carefully took it from her.  No one had ever written a letter or anything really to him.

“The kids wrote it this morning and asked me to give it to you,” Black Canary explained.

“Oh,” Billy’s shoulders slumped.

Black Canary put a comforting hand on his shoulder.  “I understand that you’re probably still upset with them but if nothing else at least read it, okay?”

“Okay.”

After Black Canary had left Billy slowly sat down on the couch.  He turned on the news but muted the sound before taking a deep breath and slowly opening it.

_Dear Billy,_

_Words cannot begin to express how deeply sorry we are.  We never meant for you to get hurt by anything we said.  We only wanted you to stay with us where you would be safe and provided for._

_You must understand that from our prospective it doesn’t look like Captain Marvel is doing anything for you.  However, that may not be the case-we just might not see it._

_No matter the case we should have respected your feelings.  We can only hope that you can forgive us one day.  We would also like to offer our apologies to Captain Marvel as well._

_If you ever change your mind there will always be a place for you on the team._

_Sincerely,_

_The Young Justice Team_

Billy blinked away the tears as he carefully set the letter down.  Just as he glanced up the news lady on TV vanished.

“What the hell?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a long journey but I'm almost through with this story. Not to worry though-I've got some more stories I want to do before moving on to my next obsession. I have a half-finished one that I'm going to dig out and see if I can finish it or not. Either way I do plan to start a new story at some point that will be a little bit...different than this but one that may seem familiar to those who've read some of my older stuff.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team and Black Canary learn a shocking truth even as they struggle to reunite the dimensions.

The world was in chaos.  All of the adults had disappeared, leaving only the children behind. At first Billy had been scared as well until he remembered the conversation with Batman and sighed.  “I better transform: they’ll probably be expecting me at the Cave.  Shazam!”

Less than a minute later Captain Marvel stepped out of the zeta tube and into Mount Justice. As he had expected both Batman and Zatara were there, watching the news.  “Hey, guys,” he said cheerfully.

“How can you be in such a good mood?” Zatara demanded.  “My daughter and all of the other children in the world are missing and we don’t know where they are!”

Captain Marvel rolled his eyes.  “There are two worlds: one for adults and one for kids.  You didn’t tell him?” he looked at Batman in surprise.

“I was about to,” Batman explained, “but I thought it would be best to wait for you, just to be safe.”

“Probably a good idea,” Captain Marvel admitted.

“How do you know there’s two worlds?” Zatara frowned suspiciously.

“Because I was just in the kid’s world.”

Both Captain Marvel and Batman watched in amusement as Zatara puzzled over his response before his eyes widened comically.  “You…you’re,” he floundered for a few moments then settled on, “that explains a lot.”

“Have you been to see the team yet?” Batman asked.

Captain Marvel shook his head.  “I was going to see if you guys had discovered anything before I did.”

“The source of the disturbance is coming from Roanoke Island,” Zatara informed him.

“Cool,” Captain Marvel grinned.  “I’ll tell them.”

“I’ve also assigned League members to keep watch on high security places to see if we can keep them from stealing what they planned to,” Batman said.

“Shazam!”

* * *

 

Young Justice was more than a little shocked when all of the adults disappeared.  Robin immediately turned on the news while Wally pulled out his cell phone and tried calling his parents.  Next he tried Flash and spent the next few minutes calling everyone he knew.

“It seems like a worldwide problem,” M'gann looked worried.  The only reason she wasn’t freaking out was because she could still feel her uncle’s presence in her mind although it was so faint she couldn’t use it to contact him.

Zatanna was sniffling and Kaldur immediately moved to comfort her.  Conner just stood awkwardly in the middle of the room.  Yes he was worried about Batman and Black Canary but other than them there wasn’t really anyone for him to be upset about.  Strangely enough Artemis didn’t seem upset either as she idly cleaned under her fingernails.

“So why aren’t you upset?” Conner asked her.

Artemis rolled her eyes before replying, “This isn’t the first time my family’s disappeared without telling me.  Ollie’s done it a couple of times but that’s only because he got hammered.  Black Canary chewed him out pretty good though,” she smirked at the memory.

“Obviously this was a magical attack,” Robin mused.  “We just need to figure out where the source is located.  Zatanna, do you think you could perform a locator spell?  We’ve seen Zatara do it.”

Regretfully Zatanna shook her head.  “I’m nowhere near my dad’s level plus it usually takes me a week to even be able to perform it without hurting anyone let alone master it.”

“What about Billy?” M'gann asked suddenly.  “I know he’s mad at us but Captain Marvel’s missing too so he might be willing to help us.”

“Does anybody know how to get in touch with him?” Wally asked.

They all turned to look at Robin who shook his head.  “No way-Batman doesn’t like anyone snooping in his files.”

“It’s an emergency,” Artemis pointed out.  “I don’t think he’ll care.”

“I will take full responsibility,” Kaldur promised.

“Fine,” Robin reluctantly began typing commands into one of the computers.

Just then they heard a sound like lightning and as they turned to see what it was Billy appeared in the center of the room.  “Cool-it worked.”

“Billy!” M'gann quickly enveloped him in a hug.  “I’m so glad that you’re safe!”

Billy awkwardly patted her on the back.  “Me too?  I don’t really mind the hug but you’re making my broken arm hurt.”

M'gann immediately released him.  “I’m so sorry,” she apologized.

“It’s okay,” Billy shrugged.  “You must be Zatanna: I recognize the top hat.”

“Thanks,” Zatanna smiled.  “If you don’t mind me asking who are you?”

“Billy,” Wally told her.  “He’s Captain Marvel’s apprentice.”

“Actually,” Billy cleared his throat, “I _am_ Captain Marvel.”

“I’m sorry but could you repeat that?” Conner asked, certain that he had heard wrong.  A quick glance around the room showed that his teammates were thinking the same thing.

“I’m Captain Marvel,” Billy repeated, his voice firm and unwavering.  “A wizard granted me magical powers almost three years ago.  When I call down the magic lightning it transforms me into Cap and vice versa.”

The room was deathly silent as they stared at him in horror.  Zatanna was extremely confused but stayed quiet, not wanting to add to the tension in the air.  Robin was mentally kicking himself for not noticing sooner.  All of the signs, the hints that both Batman and Billy had dropped: they had all added up to this but he had been too focused on blaming Captain Marvel to even notice the truth.

“That explains so much,” Artemis groaned.  She would’ve been upset about not noticing sooner but if Robin couldn’t’ figure it out then she certainly couldn’t.

“Oh, dear,” Kaldur sighed.  No wonder Billy had gotten so upset whenever they had questioned Captain Marvel’s parenting abilities.

Wally didn’t even seem to notice that his mouth was open as he stared at Billy in shock.  He was Captain Marvel.  Billy was Captain Marvel.  A scrawny nine-year-old was the World’s Mightiest Mortal.  Huh.  No wonder he always acted so goofy and got along with them so well.

Considering that he was a clone of two men (one human, one Kryptonian) Conner didn’t really see the big deal.  Yeah he could understand feeling bad for thinking bad about Captain Marvel but that was about it.

Out of all of them M'gann was the most upset.  She remembered growing up on Mars as a White Martian, the most hated color of all.  Her parents and siblings had been ashamed of her and continued to deny her existence even after she had learned to shapeshift.  Captain Marvel’s absence in Billy’s life had reminded her of that, of the encompassing loneliness that threatened to swallow her whenever she saw others with their families, happy as could be.  All she had wanted was for Billy to never have to feel that way.  She didn’t mean to hurt him-she had merely been trying to make him see the truth, that Captain Marvel didn’t care for him.  Instead, she had driven him away, had made her hatred for Captain Marvel so obvious that Billy felt he had no other choice but to leave.  She began crying and Conner put a hand on her shoulder.  “I-I’m sorry,” she sobbed.  “I really am.”

“We all are,” Kaldur agreed.

“It’s okay,” Billy told them.  “Oh I almost forgot!  The adults are in their own separate dimension just like we are.”

“My dad’s alive,” Zatanna sighed in relief.

“Have they figured out anything?” Robin asked.

Billy nodded eagerly.  “The source of the disturbances in coming from Roanoke Island.  I think Batman wanted to see about a coordinated attack.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Artemis agreed.

“Will I get to hit something?” Conner asked.

“Sure you can, buddy,” Wally patted his shoulder.

* * *

 

“Any idea what’s going on?” Black Canary took her coat off as soon as she entered the Cave.

“Klarion and his associates split our dimension into two separate ones: one for adults and one for kids,” Batman told her.

“How did you find that out?” Black Canary asked in curiosity.

Zatara sighed.  “Apparently Captain Marvel can access both dimensions since he’s a child.”

Comprehension dawned on Black Canary’s face and she spun to face Batman.  “Are you kidding me?” she hissed, the anger in her voice palpable. “Why didn’t you tell me that Billy and Captain Marvel are the same person?  No wonder he got so upset whenever we would ask about Captain Marvel!  If you had just told us then all of this could have been avoided!”

“Billy didn’t want anyone to know.  He wanted the team to like him for himself and not because he was Captain Marvel,” Batman explained.

“I suppose that makes sense,” Black Canary admitted.  From what she had observed of Billy so far he didn’t seem fond of anything resembling charity or pity.  “I assume he’s informing the team of the situation?”

“Yes,” a mildly confused Zatara confirmed.  “He should be back soon.”

As if on cue they heard lightning crack then Captain Marvel appeared.  “The team is standing by.  The other heroes helping to coordinate rescue operations and even the villains left behind are joining them.”

“That’s good,” Batman nodded in approval.  “The best strategy would be to make a coordinated attack on both sides.  They don’t realize we have someone who can travel between the two dimensions and that gives us an advantage.  Captain Marvel, I want you to tell the team that we will start the attack at 5:15 pm exactly.  Once we figure out the exact cause we’ll know what we need to destroy.”

“Got it,” Captain Marvel nodded before disappearing.

“You’re _so_ going to catch hell for this,” Black Canary said.

“I know,” Batman sighed.  “Believe me, I know.”

* * *

 

At exactly 5:15 pm Young Justice and Batman’s team which consisted of Batman, Zatara, Captain Marvel and Black Canary attacked Roanoke Island.  It soon became clear, however, that the villains were winning.  On the adult’s side they faced off against three very powerful sorcerers: Felix Faust, Blackbriar Thorn and Wotan.  Young Justice was left with only Klarion but he had proven to be more than a match for them before, Kid Marvel the only reason they could stay on equal footing.  But Billy, or rather Captain Marvel, was in the other dimension, leaving Zatanna as their only defense.  Unlike Billy, however, Zatanna had learned mostly parlor tricks and only a few defensive spells and no offensive ones.  She was very ill-equipped to take on another sorcerer in a fight, let alone Klarion.

“The gem’s the key!” Zatara yelled as he hastily shielded himself from half a dozen cursed vines that seemed very intent on killing him.

“Got it!  I’ll let the team know!  Shazam!”  To his dismay the team was doing horribly.  Artemis and Kid Flash were out cold as Robin tried to shield them.  Superboy was beating on the cage of flames that Miss Martian and Aqualad were trapped in.  Klarion held Zatanna by the throat, laughing at her weak struggles to get away.

“I don’t think so,” the sorcerer jeered.  “It’s going to take a lot more than that to defeat me.”

“Let her go,” Billy was fully aware that without his costume or Mr. Tawky Tawny (why hadn’t he grabbed him on the way out?) he didn’t look the least bit threatening.

Klarion snorted.  “Or what?  You’ve a broken arm and virtually no magical energy left.  What exactly do you plan on doing to me if I don’t let her go?”

“Um,” Billy tried desperately to think of something, anything but couldn’t.

“That’s what I thought,” Klarion returned his attention to Zatanna who had tears running down her cheeks.  “Don’t worry-it’ll only hurt for a minute before you die.”

He pulled out a knife-the very same evil knife that he had stolen from the last museum.  He began to mutter an incantation and, with growing horror, Billy realized what he was going to do.  Klarion was going to kill Zatanna and in doing so would absorb her magic powers and the evil that accompanied such an act.  But what Klarion didn’t realize was that if the person using the knife wasn’t completely, truly evil then they would also be absorbed into the knife.

Knowing that he didn’t have much time Billy took a deep breath and shouted, “Shazam!”  In that single second, when he was neither Billy nor Captain Marvel but something in-between Billy cast a spell, a spell so advanced that if often claimed the life of the caster.  It was, Billy decided, worth the price if he could save the lives of everyone else.  Just before the darkness hit he could see Young Justice and the Justice League running towards him.  _It worked,_ he smiled.  _I saved everyone._


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both the Justice League and Young Justice struggle to deal with the aftermath of the battle at Roanoke Island even as Billy and Klarion deal with the side effects of Billy using an advanced spell. Also, we get a sneak peek into the heroes' lives in the future.

“Where’s Captain Marvel?” were the first words out of Superman’s mouth when Batman announced that the meeting was starting.  “I know he’s on reserve right now but this is an emergency meeting.”

“Maybe he’s with his apprentice,” Flash suggested.  “I mean, he’s in the infirmary after all.”

“He doesn’t actually have an apprentice,” Black Canary informed them.  “The kid in the infirmary? That’s actually Captain Marvel’s human form.”

“Wait a second,” Green Arrow demanded.  “Are you telling me that Captain Marvel is that homeless kid you were telling me about?  The one that was physically and sexually abused?”

“That’s the one,” Black Canary sighed.

“We let a child into the League?” Superman was furious.  The Man of Steel had made his opinion of children fighting crime very clear-he didn’t approve of it.

“Speedy’s never going to let me hear the end of this,” Green Arrow groaned, burying his face in his hands.

“He’s homeless?!” Wonder Woman’s voice rose several octaves.  While the Amazon warrior wasn’t overly…maternal she was still a woman and could feel certain instincts.

Hawkgirl slammed her fist on the table.  “How could people do that to a child?!  I have half a mind to hunt down whoever did this and feast on their corpses!”

Zatara had a green tint to his face as he said, “I can certainly understand your sentiment, however, I would like to point out that I don’t believe Captain Marvel would agree with your methods.”

“He’s just always so happy,” Green Lantern Hal Jordan frowned.  He had gotten along with Captain Marvel pretty well and would go so far as to consider them friends.

“You would never think he had suffered so much,” J'onn agreed.  True, there had been times when he could sense sadness or depression coming from his normally cheerful teammate but the same could be said of them all.  J'onn had always made an effort to comfort his teammates in difficult times.  Captain Marvel usually perked up whenever someone simply acknowledged his presence, leading J'onn to theorize that the man was simply lonely as he was the only one that had never mentioned anyone at all.

“Are we going to kick him out of the League?” Aquaman asked rather abruptly.

Before the arguing could even start Batman cut in with, “And just what exactly do you think that will accomplish?  It won’t stop him from protecting Fawcett City or taking on Black Adam-it just means he won’t have the League to back him up.”

There was silence for a long moment then Black Canary said, “What about Young Justice?  He likes them.”

Batman sighed.  “If he feels that we no longer trust him then Billy Batson will disappear for good and he will remain Captain Marvel forever.”

“What do you suggest then?” Superman asked with a frown.

Batman smiled inwardly before saying, “Designate him as the official Justice League liaison for Young Justice.  That way we don’t have to keep sending other League members there to keep an eye on them.  Plus, not only will it give Billy stability but the kids won’t feel like they’re being babysat.”

“That’s a good idea, Bats,” Flash admitted, “but do we even know if he’s going to live?  Also why is Klarion in the infirmary with him?”

As all eyes turned to him again Batman let out another sigh.  “I think Zatara is more equipped to answer that.”

Zatara glared at Batman before answering, “Billy is currently in a magically induced coma which was brought on by using an ancient spell that vanquishes evil and restores balance.  Unfortunately that spell is so powerful that there is no record of it being used.  Since he didn’t have enough magic power it drew not only on his life-force but the only source of evil nearby-Klarion.  They’re still alive but until they wake up I won’t know the extent of the damage.  Billy hasn’t shown any side effects yet but Klarion…well…”

“What is it, man?” Green Arrow snapped.  “Stop stalling and tell us already!”

Zatara cleared his throat.  “His skin has turned blue.”

There was silence then, “I’m sorry but can you repeat that?” Hal asked.

* * *

 

“Have either of them woken up yet?” Batman asked.

Robin shook his head.  “Not yet. How did the meeting go?”

“Well the Hawks haven’t gone on a murdering spree yet so I’m going to count that as a success.”

“Fair enough,” Wally shrugged.

“Will Captain Marvel be allowed to remain in the League?” Kaldur asked.

“Yes,” Batman confirmed.  “As of now he will be the official Justice League liaison for Young Justice.”

“Guys!” M'gann flew into the room.  “Klarion’s awake!”

As they got closer to the infirmary they could hear Klarion demanding to be released even as Artemis tried to calm him down.

“It’s all right, Klarion,” Batman said as they entered the room.  “You’re not being held captive.”

“Then why did he say I couldn’t leave?” Klarion pointed an accusing finger at Superboy.

“He’s a villain,” Conner said stubbornly.

“You’re not a prisoner,” Batman reiterated.  “We brought you here because both you and Billy were knocked out by the spell he cast.”

Klarion calmed down slightly then he caught sight of Billy and he hopped down from his bed then made his way to the other bed.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Artemis demanded.

“I don’t think he’s trying to hurt Billy,” M'gann told her.

Klarion rolled his eyes.  “I’m not going to hurt him, yeesh.  I was just going to make sure he didn’t get too badly injured.”

“You can do that?” Kaldur asked hopefully.

“Zatara said that he couldn’t do that,” Wally pointed out, his eyes narrowing suspiciously even as Batman let out a longsuffering sigh next to him.

“That’s because it’s technically a dark spell,” Klarion explained.  “Zatara’s a fairly decent wizard but since he believes that all those who learn dark spells are evil he will always be held back.”  He put one hand on Billy’s stomach and the other on his forehead, whispering something under his breath.

“Is he going to be okay?” Robin asked anxiously.

“Quiet,” Klarion snapped.  After a few moments his eyes widened and he removed his hands.  “He will live, however, he will no longer age.”

“So is he immortal or something?” Conner asked.

“No,” Klarion shook his head.  “His lifespan has been increased but only by like a decade or two.”

“But he’s always going to look like this, right?” Batman checked.

“Yes,” Klarion nodded.

“You know I’m surprised you haven’t freaked out yet,” Wally commented.

Klarion looked at him in confusion.  “About what?”

Artemis rolled her eyes and fished out a compact.  “Your skin’s blue, silly.”

Klarion looked at himself in the mirror.  “I look awesome,” he grinned.

* * *

 

It was almost a week later when Billy finally woke up.  The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was the entire Young Justice team.  “Hey, guys,” his throat was incredibly dry so it came out as a whisper.

“Hey, Billy,” M'gann smiled as she held out a cup of water, guiding the straw to his mouth.

“So how’re you feeling, kid?” Artemis asked.

After drinking his fill of water Billy said, “Pretty good actually.  What about Klarion and Zatanna?  Did they make it okay?”

“Yep,” Robin said cheerfully.  “Although I’m pretty sure that Zatara’s never going to let her out of his sight again.”

“Klarion’s skin is blue,” Conner said abruptly.

“Teekl did not seem overly amused,” Kaldur sighed.  The familiar had scratched him before running away, not returning until after Klarion had woken up.

Wally sniggered.  “Klarion liked it though.”

“That’s good,” Billy pushed himself to a sitting position, grabbing Mr. Tawky Tawny and hugging him close.

“Did…did you have time to read our letter?” M'gann asked hesitantly.

“Yes,” Billy nodded.

“So, uh, what’d you think?” Wally tried to sound casual but wasn’t very successful.

‘I think,” Billy’s voice was quiet as he looked down, “that I accept your apologies.”

“We’re so happy,” M'gann engulfed him in a hug, ignoring his squeak of surprise.

“Back off,” Artemis gently extracted her.

“Sorry,” M'gann flushed.

“It’s okay,” Billy smiled at her.

“And the rest?” Conner wanted to know.  “Are you going to stay here with us?”

As if sensing Billy’s indecision Kaldur said, “Batman has convinced the League to let Captain Marvel be the official liaison for Young Justice if you decide to stay.”

“Come on,” Robin pleaded.  “It’ll be fun.”

Billy looked at them and smiled.  “Sure.  Why not?  It does sound like fun.”

* * *

 

5 Years Later

Mere seconds after Nightwing emerged from the zeta tube he was jumped by someone causing him to grunt.

“Did I scare ya?” Billy asked as he wrapped his arms around Nightwing’s neck.

“Nope,” Nightwing adjusted his grip so that Billy was resting comfortably on his hip.  “Wally and Artemis said hi by the way and that you’re going to love the present they got you.”

Wally and Artemis had retired three years prior after an armor piercing bullet (courtesy of Deathstroke) had torn his knee to shreds.  He could still walk but if he tried to go faster than a jog he risked not being able to use his knee ever again.  While Artemis had been quick to retire so she could take care of him she was getting bored with civilian life and no one would be surprised if she took her bow and costume out of storage.

“Cool, I can’t wait to get it,” Billy grinned.

He had certainly changed a lot since joining the team, Nightwing reflected.  It was extremely rare for him to have nightmares now.  He also no longer feared touch but was almost always hanging onto someone, usually Conner or Klarion.

“Look what I got,” Billy fished a necklace out from under his shirt and held it up for inspection.  In the center was a golden shark’s tooth with a red seashell on either side.  “You-know-who gave it to me for my birthday,” he whispered.

You-know-who was Kaldur who was on an extremely long undercover mission.  Only the original Young Justice team, including Billy, knew that he was undercover while the newer members thought that he was a traitor.  Well, Klarion also knew but he always knew things that he wasn’t supposed to.

“It’s very nice,” Nightwing smiled.  “Anything else happen while I was gone?”

“Conner and I are going to stay with Clark this weekend,” Billy informed him excitedly.

“That’s awesome.”

Everyone had been surprised when Clark approached Conner, apologizing for his behavior.  The two had started spending more time together with Clark even inviting Billy and sometimes Klarion to come over as well.

“Will Klarion be going to?” Nightwing asked.

Before Billy could respond a new voice cut in.  “Me?  At the big blue boy scouts house?  Never.  Besides I need to go home and stock up on magical herbs for my potions.”  Another welcome change had been Klarion’s decision to join the Young Justice team.  They had been understandably wary of him at first but he had more than proven himself several times over.

“You’ve gone there before,” Nightwing pointed out.

“That reminds me,” Klarion turned to Billy.  “Teekl and Mr. Tawky Tawny have gone hunting again.”

“Maybe they won’t bring us any heads this time,” Billy said hopefully.

“I don’t even want to know,” Nightwing groaned.

“Also Conner is making out with Wonder Girl again,” Klarion’s nose wrinkled in disgust.

Conner and M'gann had mutually decided to end their relationship four years earlier.  They were still friends but had come to the realization that that was all they would ever be.  M'gann was busy taking care of her adopted brother, Garfield, while Conner had fallen head over heels for Wonder Woman’s half-sister Cassie or Wonder Girl as she was more commonly known.

“So what’re you getting me for my birthday?” Billy changed the subject.

“A shrunken head,” Klarion beamed.

Nightwing sincerely hoped that he was joking but highly doubted it.  He had seen Klarion’s bedroom before.  It was…interesting to say the least.

“What do you want?” Nightwing was positive that Billy would love the not-even-in-stores-yet Legend of Zelda game he had gotten him but it never hurt to double-check.

Billy hugged Nightwing harder then said, “I’ve already gotten everything that I ever wanted.  What more could I possibly ask for?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that this story is finally finished I can start working on another one. I’m fixing to go over a half-finished story and see if I can finish it while I finish outlining another one. It’ll take awhile since I’m planning for it to be a very, very long story that will span over 20 years once I’m done with it and I have to get all of the events in order before I actually start writing it. I hope you liked this one!

**Author's Note:**

> This is a work in progress so I make no promises as to whether or not it will get finished but I'm almost halfway through writing it so the possibility is pretty good.


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